Going Against Nature
by Waxico
Summary: This is a "What if Goku never hit his head", BUT!…he decides to be good anyway. In this story, the Saiyans will not be destroyed by Frieza (yet), but they leave 'Kakarrot' on Earth (which will be explained in story). A better Summary is found in the beginning of the story.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is my first Fanfic. I used to think writing them was stupid, but after seeing there are a few good ones out there, I had been wanting to write one myself for a while now, so I thought, what the hell. This is my first story…like ever, so constructive criticism is appreciated, but regular shit criticism is good to ;)**

 **Summary: This is a "What if Goku never hit his head", BUT!…he decides to be good anyway. In this story, the Saiyans will not be destroyed by Frieza (yet), but they leave 'Kakarrot' on Earth (which will be explained in story), and I will include/mesh noncanon story lines to try to make them fit into a single comprehensible timeline (that doesn't mean I'm going to include every movie under the sun, just the ones I feel like [no video games though]). An example of this is how in this first chapter, I'm going to try to mesh together aspects of Bardock: Father of Goku and DB Minus. This story is planned to go from OG DB all the way to DBS (no GT). I am trying to catch up with OG DB, so if new chapters don't come out for a while, its either because life is in the way or I haven't caught up to the episode I need to write about. That's the sum up, hope you enjoy.**

Chapter 1

Changes Set In Motion

* * *

It was a dark night with the full moon, high in the sky, having provided the only light. On the distant Planet Kanassa, the blue, icthyoid natives fought for the survival of their species as they were attacked by great, ape-like monsters wearing strange battle armor. The Kanassans fired ki blasts at the giants, but to no effect. The apes responded by firing ki blasts of their own from their mouths, obliterating the platoon of soldiers. The remaining army tried to flee, but ran in vain as they were desolated along with their city. The invaders rampaged, destroying buildings and citizens alike with their strength. A lone warrior managed to pierce the skin of one of the beasts, leaving a scratch on its face cheek. The fighter's pride was short lived, though, as the ape fired a mouth blast at its attacker. The war slowly waged on as the planet grew silent.

The star that Kanassa orbited slowly appeared over the horizon, revealing the destruction that was left in wake. Smoke rose from burning towers and corpses scattered the landscape. In a large crater, a group of humanoid creatures with tails sat around in a circle at its center and celebrated their current victory. "That was some crazy party last night, huh guys" said Toma, the ponytailed male.

"If you say so, I don't remember anything, though.", replied Selypa, the female. Toma then looked at Selypa. "Ha, just like a true ape, Selypa". She scowled at him for his little comment.

Toteppo, the large, hair reseeding male said, "I agree Selypa, it's like waking up from a dream where you remember only parts of it".

"I don't remember much either, but I do remember the little bastard that gave me this!", replied Panbukin, the hefty, mustached male who then pointed to the burn wound on his cheek.

Selypa replied with a tone of irritation. "Ah shut up, I don't know how you guys remember anything when we transform, especially Bardock, he says he remembers everything".

Toma scoffed at this. "Haha, he may remember his battles, but he can't be bothered to remember his social life; watch this." He turned to his troop's commander, who was lying down on the ground, arms behind his head and a straw in his mouth. "Hey Bardock, how mold is your second kid"?

Bardock replied, "I don't know…like one?". Selypa snidely remarked with a smirk. "He is not you lazy asshole, he turned three last month. You should probably go pay him a visit, it'd be good for him. I'm sure you'll have time to go see Gine too." Bardock lightly blushed at the sound of his mate's name. "Why should I? They'll probably just send him away before I can see the little brat. Besides, my old man didn't bother with me and look how I turned out."

"That's exactly my point Bardock" said Selypa with a blank but sarcastic expression. Bardock then sat up to face Selypa. "Whatever, I'll think about it on our way back to Planet Vegeta."

Panbukin then broke the silence by shifting the conversation to a new topic. "Hey guys, why did Frieza want us to fight for this dump anyways? Has he finally lost his marbles, hehe?"

Bardock sat up next to Toma and Toteppo. "Yeah, but not in this case. I heard this planet has special properties or something like that." Toma added "Yeah I heard that too, specifically psychic ones like the power to read minds, see the future, and other weird shit like that".

Bardock added with an agitated tone "Frieza is so damn paranoid, he'd jump at the second he could gain an ability like mind reading". Toteppo agreed with an slightly anxious voice. "Geez, imagine if Frieza could read minds, then noone.."

Toteppo was suddenly interrupted as a Kanassan survivor appeared out of a pile of rubble. "It's too bad you baboons can't read minds, then maybe you could have heard the cries of my people as you slaughtered them!" The native caught the group by surprise and then rushed towards Bardock. As Bardock got ready to block the offender's attack, he vanished behind Bardock, flipped in the air, and struck him in the neck, causing Bardock to fall to the ground. As the Kanassan landed, Panbukin dashed forward with a knee strike to his back, sending the warrior flying into the side of the crater. Toma then fired a white fire ball that consumed the Kanassan, but was not strong enough to instantly kill him. The Kanassa stood before the group encased in silver flames.

"What the hell?!", ached Bardock. "You will all soon die, just as my fallen comrades did.", said the native. Bardock angrily replied, "I wouldn't be so sure of that". As he charged a ki blast, the native stopped him in his tracks with a question.

"WAIT!...You came here for psychic powers, have you not? Well now you have them, Bardock." "How did you..you can read minds?!", shouted a shocked Bardock. "Yes, and now you can as well. I have given you the gift of future vision, the gift that Frieza desired so desperately! Now you can see as I did!" "Huh, see what!?", replied Bardock.

The Kanassan spoke for a final time before he was engulfed by the flames "See the demise of your race, just as I had too! You Saiyans will finally get what you deserve, HAHAHAHHHHHHH!" The native cackled for a final time before getting on Bardock's nerves, making him charge up a ki blast. "Shut the hell up!", was all Bardock could muster as he threw the ball at the Kanassan, completely vaporizing him.

As the remains of the piscean warrior disintegrated, Pabukin cracked a joke. "Mmm, love me some fried fish, don't you Bardock?...Bardock?" He looked to his commander who stood with a blank expression. Toma tried calling out to his ally. "Hey Bardock, you alright"? As he said this, his commander and best friend fell to the ground with a thud, eyes blank. The troop feared the worst and rushed him to his pod. As soon as they got him in, put in the coordinates to Planet Vegeta, and saw his pod fly off in its direction, they entered their own pods and followed in pursuit, hoping their leader would make it to the medical base in time.

* * *

Back on one of Frieza's bases, a young saiyan warrior with flame-like hair was training. This was no average saiyan, though. It was nonother than Vegeta, the Prince of All Saiyans! In the training chamber, the young prince was surrounded by small, green, artificially created creatures called Saibamen. As the saibamen closed in, Vegeta showed no signs of distress. One by one, the saibamen tried to land hits on the prince, but he dodged each of them with ease. The tiny biowarriors looked around, dumbfounded that the young warrior evaded them with such agility. As a last-ditch attempt, the saibamen attacked simultaneously and tried to dogpile onto the prince, but Vegeta smirked before letting out a yell that exploded a wave of energy around him. The saibamen got blasted into the wall, to which Vegeta smiled as he let out single ki blasts from his fingertips at each saibamen, vaporizing them instantly.

The observers of the fight gawked in awe at the strength of this small child. Technician one was extra baffled, "Unbelivable"!

"I told you he was strong for his age" replied technician two, amused at the expression of the first. "My God, what's he going to be like when he's older!?", said the first technician with a shaky voice.

A tall muscular saiyan with a single tuft of hair on his head, better known as General Nappa of the Saiyan Army and body guard to the prince, leaned against the wall with his mars crossed and chuckled at the technician's remark. "Hard to tell right now, but I can tell you he'll be one hell of a warrior, so it'd be best to stay on his good side, hehe." "You can say that again!" replied the technician with a scared tone.

"Open up the door, I'm done in here!" yelled the prince. "Ah sorry sir, right away!" The technician followed the orders and pushed a button that slid the training center door open. As Vegeta walked out, Nappa greeted him, "That was very impressive your Highness". "Stop being a kiss-ass, Nappa!", chided the prince.

The two saiyans rode along a moving sidewalk to go speak with their quote-unquote boss. As they moved along, Vegeta began his usual gripping. "I'm bored of this place, I want another combat mission cause I'm sick of being assigned these drills. One of these days, we won't be taking orders from him anymore, just you wait and see." "You think so, Prince?" asked Nappa. "I know so.", replied Vegeta. "Haha, that sounds great!", said Nappa ecstatically.

In a room stood two creatures, one fat and pink with spikes on his head, and the other a slim but muscular cyan skinned man with luscious green hair. In the middle of these two sat a throne hosting a smaller pink and white creature, with a large purple orb as its cranium and two black horns protruding out from it. The cyan man stepped forward to inform the seated creature of a recent status report.

"Lord Frieza, a status report has just come in regarding Planet Kanassa". "Go on, Zarbon", replied the smaller creature with a blank expression, not even bothering to face his addressor. "The planet was conquered last night, sire", responded Zarbon. The other man in the room replied with a slightly shocked expression.

"What? Who was able to occupy the planet in a single night. The Kanassans were so strong I thought you and I would have to go and take care of it?!" "Dodoria…". The fat, pink man known as Dodoria faced Frieza with a bead of sweat running down his forehead. "My apologies Lord Freiza, please excuse me for my sudden outburst", said Dodoria with slight bow and a nervous look on his face. "Hmph", scoffed Frieza.

Frieza once again addressed Zarbon. "By whom?", was all that Frieza said. "By a troop of Saiyans, My Lord". Frieza, without turning to face Zarbon, shifted his gaze in his direction with a look of concern.

Dodoria responded with an unsurprised tone. "Saiyans huh? They are pretty strong, and it seems their upper levels are starting to catch up to our elites".

"Actually, it was a troop of low class warriors that took Kanassa.", rebutted Zarbon. Dodoria spoke in outburst once again, "Wha? Low class!? These Saiyans are quickly become quite efficient fighters, huh Zarbon?"

A banter between the two then began. "Agreed, they've grown in strength as a species and a small group of them can be quite formidable, especially when under a full moon." "Ha, are you scared of them now, Zarbon"? "Certainly not. All I'm saying is that we need to keep a close eye on them. How would you like to go up against a troop like the one that lead the attack on Kanassa during a full moon, Dodoria? Take into the fact that they as a race are growing more powerful and that their offspring are doing the same at an even faster rate, like the young prince. It could be cause for an uprising".

Frieza then interrupted the two men's conversation. "Hmph! Only a fool would allow circumstances such as those to arise." Just as Frieza finished his sentence, Prince Vegeta walked into the room.

The two men faced the tiny warrior. "What are you doing here unannounced, Prince Vegeta?", asked Zarbon. "Frieza didn't send for you, so squirm before you have to pay the consequences kid.", said Dodoria.

The young prince ignored them and addressed Frieza in an aggravated manner. "I'm bored with the training hall, so I've come to ask for an assignment."

"You'd best watch you tone, young prince, or else I'll have to 'discipline' you.", stated Zarbon. The prince scoffed at him with a 'hpmh'. Unexpectedly, Freiza verbally interfered. "Let the boy be, Zarbon, he's simply enthusiastic."

"M..My Lord!" said Zarbon with a shocked expression as he turned to face his master. Frieza continued, "If the prince wishes to display his strength and ability, then I see no reason to deny him such. Give him the hardest assignment we have."

Vegeta looked at Zarbon with a smirk. Zarbon leered at the prince quickly and then turned to face his master again. "Yes, sire", said Zarbon with a tone of irritation and defeat. "And Vegeta…" continued Frieza who turned his head partially towards the young boy with a coy smile. Vegeta, in turn, looked at Frieza. "…do come back alive, and with better manners I hope." "Yes, Lord Frieza, thank you for the assignment. I will not fail you.", said Vegeta with a slight bow.

"I should hope so, and to ensure this, I would like you to bring your general Nappa along and an extra accomplice, you may choose whomever you wish as the extra." Vegeta, who was still in a bow, secretly scowled at being ordered to bring others along on his mission. "As you wish, Lord Frieza." He then exited the room with a leer in his eyes. _One day, Frieza, I won't be taking orders from you anymore! Just you wait!_ As Vegeta walked out, a devilish grin formed on Frieza's face.

* * *

Back on Planet Vegeta, Bardock was floating in one of the medical pods filled with biofluid. Two doctors were watching over Bardock's progress. Malaka, a reptilian being with green skin and a tuft of orange feathers on his head, was tending to the machine that Bardock was in.

"Geez, at this rate Bardock is going to surpass even King Vegeta." The other medical scientist, a bald, elven man with a gray beard, Planthor, simply stared at the Saiyan floating in the pod.

"No kidding. The man returns from every mission half dead." Malaka turned to Bardock in the pod. "I don't know what compelled him to think he could take a planet like Kanassa with only his small troop of low classes."

"That's a saiyan for you. They never learn their limits.", replied Planthor, "Let's run a few more tests on him to make sure he's recovering correctly, something seems to be off".

Toma then walked into the room and stared at his friend and commander as he sat in the pod. "How is he Malaka?"

The reptilian replied as he looked at some data on the monitor. "Physically he's fine, it's his mental state that we're worried about. His normal brainwave pattern has changed." "Brainwaves huh?" _What did that fish face do to you Bardock? Could he have really given you psychic powers?_ As Toma pondered this, the rest of the troop walked in and Panbukin broke his train of thought.

"That doesn't sound too good. Maybe we should just leave Bardock to recover, I'm sure we can handle Planet Meat on our own."

"Yeah OK.", was Toma's simple reply. _Get better old friend_. The troop flew out of the medical bay and dashed towards their pods to start their next mission, except for Toteppo, who stopped for a quick snack break, but eventually caught up with the rest of his troop.

* * *

About an hour after his troop left, Bardock began to stress as his brainwaves spiked! The doctors were shocked and tried to stabilize him, but to no avail. Bardock convulsed in his medical pod as images flashed before him in his mind. _What the…?! What's going on?! Is that..my troop? Wait, No! They're being killed! D..Dodoria? I'LL KILL THAT BASTARD! Guh, What now!?... F..Frieza? What's he doing at Planet Vegeta? No..no he can't be doing what I think he's doing….. 'BOOM! Ahahahaha', DAMMIIIIIIITT! THAT PIECE OF SHIT, HOW DARE HE BETRAY US LIKE THAT, I'LL KILL HIM TOO!...I'm fading to black! What's going on?!...Huh, who is that baby...K..kaka..Kakarrot? What's he..what's he doing with those aliens? WHY AM I SEEING THIS?! WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ME?!_ As the vision ended, his eyes shot open as he was being carried out of the pod by Planthor and Malaka.

Planthor faced the nude man with a worried look. "My goodness Bardock, are you alright, you looked like you were having a heart attack!", asked Planthor with a look of concern? The look on Bardock's face was one of worry and fear, and it showed in his voice as well.

"I..don't know. I was having a bad dream I guess". Planthor gave a sigh of relief. "Well, I'm just glad to see that you're alright now, I recommend you rest for a while though. It isn't wise to over-stress yourself."

As Bardock was getting dressed and putting his scouter back on, he gave Planthor a sarcastic tone. "Well I'm not known for being wise." Planthor chuckled at that. "Hmhm, I disagree Bardock. How else would you be able to return alive from all the missions you take on?" Bardock smirked at that reply, "Wisdom has nothing to do with it, Planthor. Don't need wisdom to be a good fighter."

Malaka decided to chime in with a response of his own. "Nevertheless, you really should consider taking a break Bardock, you're going to end up getting killed if you don't take time to recover". Suddenly Bardock remembered the vision about his troop. "Ah, my troop, where are they?"

"Oh, they just left for a mission on Planet Meat, assigned by Lord Frieza himself.", said Planthor. Bardock was surprised by this. At first, he was concerned because of the visions he saw, but he brushed them off as hallucinations. Now, he was excited to 'meat' (I'm sorry, I had too) up with his crew and start and new mission, though, he was slightly annoyed that they left without him.

"From Frieza?! Haha, we're finally getting the recognition we deserve!". And with that, he sprinted out of the med bay straight towards his pod.

Planthor yelled at him from the opposite end of the hall. "Bardock wait, you are not well enough to go to Planet Meat! Bardock!" "Ah, let him go Planthor, there's no stopping a saiyan when it comes fighting.", replied Malaka as he was still looking at the data on screen.

* * *

Bardock raced down the hall with his head full of rambling thoughts. _Hehe, those bastards though they'd get a head start on me, huh? I'd better hurry if I want to have any action left when I get there._ As he was running, he stopped abruptly as more visions clouded his mind. He began to stress once more, as visions of Planet Vegeta being destroyed filled his psyche. A new image then popped up, it was his newborn son and mate being caught in the explosion of Planet Vegeta's destruction; a terrified look on Gine's face as she clutched Kakarrot. When the vision was over, Bardock was clutching his heart and gasping, with sweat beading down his forehead. He then remembered what Selypa had said to him back on Kanassa. ' _You should probably go pay him a visit, it'd be good for him. I'm sure you'll have time to go see Gine too.'_ He then grunted at remembering her words and that he felt compelled to go check on them, specifically 'her'. Even though he cared for his mate deeply, he didn't like to express it out in the open. _Fine, I'll go check on her just to make sure she's OK; might as well see the little tyke while I'm there too._ While he didn't spend much time at his home since he was always on missions, he did enjoy the times when he got to stay there and 'visit' his mate. With that, he darted towards the hut that he and Gine shared, and hopefully for a brief moment, so he could head out for his mission as soon as possible.

* * *

 **Well that's the end of Chapter 1, hope you enjoyed it. I'm going to be making Chapter 2 soon, so keep your eyes out for that. I like the way this came out but I feel like I had troubling establishing dialogue changes sometimes and my grammar/punctuation seemed off at times. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. In the next chapter is where we are going to get the ball rolling with this fanfic and where we'll see the major changes in the timeline take place. I'll be finishing up the origin of this fanfic and beginning the actually story of how Goku ends up being a good guy, even though he remembers his saiyan heritage. If you've got any suggestions, feel free to leave them in the form of a review, but do not suggest OC inserts as I will not be doing that with this fic. Get ready for the next chapter in 'Going Against Nature'.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello viewers, sorry about the text last time. As I said in the first chapter, this is my first time ever posting a fic and I didn't know how to properly convert text. It's been fixed now, so go and have a look if you want. I fixed up the grammar and punctuation a little too. So, in this chapter, I'm going to be establishing the differences of the timelines and how/why Frieza spares the Saiyan. One original idea I thought would be cool would be to add different clans to saiyan culture. The Saihon tribe is known for having great attack power and receiving large Zenkai boosts (Saihon is a pun on Honsai, the Jap word for root vegetable, which Bardock's whole family has name puns for.) Be aware that many character personalities may be drastically different from their canon counter parts (especially Goku's). Since I'm on Spring Break right now, I'm gonna try to pump out as many chapters as I can, but when school starts, don't expect a huge frequency of releases. And with that out of the way, let's begin, shall we?**

Chapter 2

History Takes A New Path

* * *

Back in the void of space, Frieza's ship had just begun its approach towards saiyan home planet. ' _6 Hours until arrival at destination'_ , repeated an automated voice inside Freiza's Navi System. As the ship neared, the its owner fantasized about how he was to destroy the planet. In his mind, he was giddy with excitement, thinking of possible ways to extinguish those filthy simians once and for all. Frieza pushed a button on his chair and spoke out loud," Tart, do you read me?".

"Yes, My Lord, how may I be of service?" Replied Tart, head of communications.

Frieza answered him, "Would you please inform all saiyans to cease their current activities and return to Planet Vegeta?"

"Right away, sire!" replied Tart, the head of communications.

"Hmhmhmhm, all is going according to plan." Frieza then resumed imagining how he would eradicate the monkeys, feeling unfortunate that he had to put his favorite pets down, as he had grown quite fond of them. They were quite efficient fighters and were fun to antagonize, but he was given an order from Lord Beerus to extinguish their species, and Frieza was more than happy to oblige. The truth is that he was becoming concerned at the rate in which the saiyans were increasing in strength, as well as the fact that their warrior of legend or deity could suddenly appear and dethrone him. Even though the chances of their asinine tales being true were slim, Frieza did not want to take that risk. No, it was for the best to rid of these monkeys once and for all. In fact, just the name 'Super Saiyan' or 'Super Saiyan God' made him paranoid. At the thought of these warriors, he pushed the button once again and spoke out loud once more. "Fuj, I would like every document containing information on the Super Saiyan and Super Saiyan God to be sent to my computer at once".

"Yes sire, but may I ask why?", replied Fuj, head of data transfer, who was curious as to why his master would care about some stupid monkey myth.

"You are not to question my orders Fuj, is that clear?! Now send me the documents immediately or you'll wish you died along with your planet!", said Frieza in a very irritated tone. "Y..yes sire, my apologies.", replied Fuj, fearing for his life.

* * *

Skipping ahead an hour since the call back, Bardock could be seen zooming through the air trying to get to his hut. As he approached the area where it was, he noticed the food market that was located just outside of it. As the smell of the fresh meats and bread tickled his nose, he remembered why it was that his hut was at the outskirts of the city. He flew down and landed near the middle of the market square. A few saiyans gave him glances because it was rude to land in the middle of a public area, but Bardock could care less.

Bardock walked to a meat stand and purchased a sack of pork-like meat. _If I'm going to visit Gine, I might as well get some meat for her to cook, cause I'm hungry and she makes a good meat chop._ As he was leaving to go to his home, he was stopped by a passerby. "Hey Bardock, glad to see your still alive."

Bardock turned around to see an old accomplice from a troop he used to be in. He was a tallish saiyan with short spikey hair. "Oh, hey Zukini, how you been"?, replied Bardock.

"Been good, just getting this supply of grains into the shop. Heard you just got back from Kanassa, though I'm surprised you're here, I thought you would've been off on another mission by now.", replied Zukini.

"Well, I had gotten a head injury on Kanassa, so I had to stay in a pod for a while. I'm only here to check on Gine and then I'm off because my troop went ahead of me."

"Oh, visiting the Mrs. are we?", teased Zukini. Bardock grunted at his remark. Zukini lightly chuckled at that and continued. "I'm just playing Bardock, no need to get so grumpy. I wouldn't worry about catching up to your crew, though. All saiyans have been ordered to return to Planet Vegeta by Lord Frieza, so I'm sure you'll be able to leave with them after Frieza's done doing whatever it is he's doing."

"What, Why?!", asked Bardock with a shocked and concerned look.

Zukini replied, wondering why Bardock suddenly raised his voice. "I don't know, he just did for some reason. I did hear talk about his men asking around about a Super Saiyan, though." Bardock gave a puzzled look when he heard this.

"Super Saiyan, as in the Legendary Super Saiyan?" He began to assume the worst. _If Frieza is asking about a Super Saiyan, then maybe he thinks it's real and thinks one of us will become one and turn against him. Maybe he's called everyone back so he can get rid of us before that happens! Maybe…I'm not going crazy and those visions were real!_ Bardock faced Zukini, "Hey, sorry to leave so soon, but there's something important I have to do.", and with that Bardock dashed off, leaving Zukini with a perplexed look.

* * *

About three hours before the saiyan callback, over at the training base, Vegeta and Nappa rode the walking trail to the mess hall to pick up their extra accomplice. "So, who is the fighter we are bringing along, Prince Vegeta?", asked Nappa.

"Raditz.", was the prince's simple reply.

"Raditz, of the Saihon clan!? Forgive me for questioning your decision making, sir, but I wouldn't bring him. Even though his father is a strong warrior, he himself is extremely weak, even for a low class!" exclaimed Nappa.

Prince Vegeta gave his bodyguard an irritated scowl. "If you didn't want to question me, then you should have kept your mouth shut! Besides, you think I didn't know this? I chose him because he is weak, that way he will either stay out of my way or die if he tries to fight the natives."

"Ah, I see, sir. That was pretty smart thinking.", praised Nappa.

"Yes, I know, but I didn't expect a meat-head like you to catch on the first time, hmhm.", chuckled the flame headed child. Nappa lowered his head slightly at being insulted by his next ruler. He knows he isn't the brightest of the bunch, but he wished the prince respected him a little more, knowing how strong of a warrior he was. As they both reached the mess hall, where the young warriors usually spent their time, they entered and saw many other saiyans around Vegeta's age teasing one saiyan in particular, Raditz.

"Gah, give me back my leg ring!", shouted the small saiyan Raditz, who had hair that reached his knees in the style of an earthling Rockstar.

"If you want it back, you'll have to take it from me, but we all know you can't because you're too slow!", teased a saiyan with pineapple looking hair.

"Yeah Radshit, why are you so weak anyway? I thought you're a member of the Saihon clan, aren't you guys supposed to be super strong?", mocked another kid who was kinda husky with short hair, having no spikes. The pineapple haired saiyan tossed the ring to their group's little leader, who laughed as Raditz tried to grab the ring but missed.

"Ha, I think he might be defective or something, I'm surprised he hasn't been killed on a mission yet. I'm surprised he didn't die on his infiltrator mission!" teased the leader, who happened to be a girl. She had short, smooth hair that reached her neck. After that last comment, Raditz had enough.

"I don't care if you're a girl, Magnolia! You'd better shut your damn mouth or I'll shut it for you, and give me back my leg ring!"

Magnolia responded in a mocking manner. "Huh, I'd like to see you even land a hit, weakling!"

With that, Raditz lunged forward and landed a blow on her cheek. The girl fell back a little and wiped her lips, which had some blood on them. When she got back up, she looked down at her hand and saw the red fluid, then faced Raditz with a pissed look in her eyes.

"Oh, you're dead, shithead! Hold him down guys!" The two boys held each of Raditz's arms down as Magnolia wailed him in the stomach a few times. Raditz groaned as he let out a lot of spit from his mouth when he was hit. Vegeta watched in the background with a smile as Raditz was hit again and again. After 30 seconds, Vegeta decided he needed to get going to his mission and fake coughed to gain the group's attention. Everybody, including Raditz, stopped to face the maker of the noise, and when everybody saw that it was Prince Vegeta, they grew bug eyed and bowed.

"Prince Vegeta!", said everyone simultaneously. "At ease.", replied Vegeta, and everyone untensed slightly and raised themselves up.

Vegeta then looked at Raditz and pointed to him. "Raditz, first born of Bardock and member of the Saihon clan, you will accompany me on my mission, understood?"

Raditz gave a shocked look. _Wha?! Why would the prince want to recruit me?!_ , was all that was going through his head right now.

The pineapple haired boy then spoke up. "Y..your Highness, will all due respect, I don't think it would be smart to bring Raditz along. He's super weak, take me instead." Vegeta gave a quick glance to the boy who spoke up, and in almost an instant, raised up his finger a fired a ki blast at the boy. The pineapple haired saiyan flew into one of the mess hall tables. "Moya!", yelled the other two bullies as they ran over to their fallen comrade.

"Be grateful that I'm in a good mood today and that I decided not to kill you. Next time, you will not question my orders or you'll pay for it with your life!", stated Vegeta with his finger still pointed towards the group. "Are you coming Raditz, or must I do the same to you?", asked the young prince as he turned towards Raditz.

"N..No sire, I'll come, just allow me to grab an item before we go, p..please".

"…I am walking to the pod station. You have until I get there to meet for departure, or I'll kill you when I get back.""Yes your Majesty!", replied Raditz with a shaky voice.

Vegeta and Nappa then walked out of the mess hall towards the direction of the pod station. Moya was still on the ground recovering from the blast, and Magnolia and the other boy were helping him up.

"What the hell! Why would the prince want to take a weakling like Raditz on a mission?!", yelled Magnolia. All that was going through Raditz's mind was that he was getting some recognition for once. _Haha! I knew I wasn't weak! To think the prince himself wants to bring me on a mission!_ Raditz looked over at the group that was bullying him. He walked over and reached out to Moya's hand, which now had the ring.

"I'll take that if you don't mind!", said Raditz in a sarcastic tone as he plucked the ring back from Moya's hand.

As he walked out, the group stared at him, dumbfounded that the prince saw some kind of potential in 'Radshit'. Just before he left, Raditz made sure to give them the bird with a sly grin on his face. He was walking down the hall towards the pod station with his leg ring reattached. The ring was very important to him because it was the only gift his father had ever given him, and even though Bardock didn't care for him much and was barely home, Raditz looked up to his father and his strength and wanted to be as strong as him someday.

As he walked down the hall, he caught a glimpse of the prince and general. He ran up to the pair to make sure he could keep up. "Your Highness, what planet have we been assigned to conquer"?

" **We** haven't been assigned anything, **I** was assigned to invade Planet Katoge, **You** are only here because Frieza forced me to bring an extra along. I don't care if you fight the Katogens nor if you get killed by them, just stay out of my way unless you want to share their fate!", said Vegeta in a harsh tone. Raditz lowered his head in sadness knowing he was brought along only as a third wheel.

"Understood, but may I ask why we are attacking the Katogens? Aren't they protected by a treaty?", said Raditz in a gloomy tone.

Vegeta seemed to have no issue with this question, as it was a logical one to ask. "The Katogens have broken their treaty with the Empire, so it is my job to punish them for their unloyalty. Now let's hurry it up! Even though the planet is extremely close to base, I want to get started as soon as possible!", replied Vegeta with a normal tone for once. When they reached the pod station, they each went to get a pod ready for lift off. "Nappa, give Raditz the coordinates to Katoge so we can get going.", said Vegeta.

Nappa walked over and input the coordinates in the pod's Navi system. The automated voice spoke, ' _Voyage will take one hour and thirty minutes to arrive at destination'._ When he was done, he walked over to his pod, but not before giving Raditz a tough side nudge.

"See ya there, runt.", said Nappa as he walked by with a sly grin. Raditz gave a hidden glare towards Nappa and thought, _Asshole_.

All three got into their pods and headed towards Planet Katoge. As they launched, Raditz turned on the communicator on his scouter. Once he heard the receiving end turn on he spoke, "Hello mother".

"Oh, hello sweetie, how are you doing?", replied his mother Gine, with an ever-sweet voice. Raditz blushed lightly when she called him that. He got annoyed when his mother used those pet names for him, since they were part of the reason he got bullied and that everyone thought he was so weak. He secretly liked the attention given to him by his mother but would never admit that out loud.

"Mother please stop with the baby names, I'm not 3 years old.", replied Raditz.

"Oh, sorry honey, you're right." Raditz face palmed at the response she just gave. "What's wrong dear, are you on your way home from your mission?", asked his mother Gine. "Unfortunately not. Actually, I've been assigned another one, by Prince Vegeta himself! I guess he saw my hidden potential." Raditz, knew he shouldn't have lied to his mother, but he wanted to make her proud; Besides, she didn't have to know that he lied.

"Really?! Oh, I'm so glad for you son! I wish your father could hear this, he would be so proud of you right now!", elated Gine. This made Raditz blush again, both out of embarrassment and pride. "Th..thank you mom."

"Ok, well me and Kakarrot will be here waiting for you when you get back. Make sure not to take on anyone too strong and there's no shame in retreating from a fight!" "Mooom, will you stop please. There totally is shame in fleeing from a fight"! Raditz fled fights all the time, but he wanted to sound tough so he lied about that as well. "Well I'm sorry if I don't want my son to come back in a body bag, hmph!..I'm sorry son, I know you just want to be a strong warrior like your father, just please be safe.", said Gine with a concerned tone that was indistinguishable from that of a mother's concern.

"Y..yes mam", stuttered Raditz. "OK, then. Be safe and I love you"! Of everything his mother coddled him about, he hated it when she used the 'L' word on him, because if he didn't say it back, his mother would get upset at him. "Excuse me Raditz, I said I LOVE you….", said Gine with a stern tone. Raditz's face was blood red and he gulped as he said his next words. "I… love you too." "What was that?", asked Gine in an even sterner tone. Raditz gave out a large sigh as he knew he wasn't getting out of saying it. "I love you too, mom." Raditz shut his eyes in shame and a large sweat drop fell from his forehead. "I love you too son, see you when you get back!". Bzzzz, was all that was heard after Gine hung up from the communications channel on the scouter.

Raditz let out another sigh, glad that it was over and that no one had heard him, or so he thought. "Oh my god, that was hilarious. I'm quite glad I brought you along Raditz, this is super entertaining for me"! The voice Raditz was hearing in his scouter was none other than Prince Vegeta's. Raditz's skin had gone pale and he thought he was going to throw up. Vegeta continued to mock him.

"Don't worry 'sweetie', I'll make sure to keep you safe for your mommy, cause the only potential you have is being a potential meat shield! HAHAHAHA"!

"Hehe, g..good one your highness." Raditz was so embarrassed by his mother. He was certain that he'd rather die on Katoge than deal with the harassment of the prince, since he can't insult him back. Raditz was starting to wish he could've just stayed back at the base and dealt with Magnolia and her teasing, at least he could fight back when it came to her.

As Vegeta continued laughing, Nappa interrupted him. "Sire, if I'm not mistaken, doesn't the Queen read you stories before bed and has a special blanket for you. I assumed all mothers treat their children like that". Nappa, not being the sharpest tool in the shed, said this in complete ignorance of this being a 'call out' of Vegeta's hypocrisy.

Upon hearing this Vegeta became furious and shouted into the scouter. "SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH NAPPA OR WHEN WE GET OUT OF THESE PODS, I'M PUTTING A HOLE IN YOUR CHEST!".

"Yes, I'm sorry sire, I didn't mean to reveal that!", said Nappa in fear for his life. Raditz was also in fear for his life, but for a completely different reason. He was trying to hold back his laughter so the prince wouldn't hear, because if he did, there was no surviving.

"Whatever, let's just get to Kotage already! I'm pissed off and need to kill something, and you two better hope it won't be you!", shouted the prince. The two stiffed up and there was silence the rest of the ride there.

* * *

' _Three more hours until arrival at Planet Vegeta'_ , stated Frieza's Navi System. Frieza was getting anxious to begin his execution on the saiyans, but knew better than to shows signs of weakness such as impatience. Suddenly a Planet Trade soldier walked into the room.

"Who gave you permission to enter my private quarters, Sorbee?" The small, blue man who honestly looked like a Sesame Street character, replied with an anxious voice.

"L..Lord Frieza, I bring news regarding Planet Meat. The group of saiyans you sent to the planet have just conquered it. They informed me that they received that callback and were getting ready to depart."

The news of this peaked Freiza's interest. _I'm surprised! That group was sent out only a mere 10 hours ago. For them to have landed and completed the mission already is astounding! This confirms my suspicions of the saiyan's becoming too powerful._ As Frieza finished this thought, for some inexplicable reason, a new one came to mind. he stopped and pondered for a moment before letting his train of thought continue. _Yes, these saiyans are quite powerful, and quite useful for my empire. Should I be letting their superstitions get the better of me? Perhaps I can spare them, for now, and continue using them for my expansions. It would be quite the waste to rid of them over some false campfire tales. I must think this over more cautiously, and I believe the hours left to arrive to their world should be more than enough time to come to a conclusion. This one troop of saiyans is worrying, though. I must get rid of this specific team as they are growing much too powerful. Perhaps that is what I will do to take reign of the saiyans in general. Yes, I could keep and eye on them and when a group or individual becomes too strong or resistant, I will kill them, its not as if those stupid apes don't do it to themselves; I doubt any of them will be missed. I can just pretend they died on a mission. That is a possibility, but I must think more on it. The one thing I am certain of right now is that that troop needs to go._

Frieza grew and evil smile on his face as he gave Sorbee an order. "Actually Sorbee, tell them to wait on Meat. I want to 'congratulate' them, personally when we get to Vegeta. I'll have Dodoria go and 'retrieve' them."

Sorbee caught on to what Frieza was implying and gave an evil grin of his own. "Oh, I see, hehe, right away Lord Frieza." Sorbee then walked out the room and relayed the order to the saiyans on Meat, which they received. "Dodoria, I would like you to go to the troop and give them my 'thanks', if you don't mind. We will be passing by Meat on our way to Vegeta, so when you are finished with them, come and regroup at Vegeta."

Dodoria replied with a looked of pure sadism on his face. "It would be my pleasure, sire!"

* * *

On Planet meat, the buildings were destroyed and bodies of the Meatians lay around everywhere. The troop was sitting on a pile of rubble near their pods getting ready to leave. "What did he say Toma?", asked Panbukin.

"He said that Frieza is sending Dodoria to pick us up so we can be congratulated personally when we all get to Vegeta!", replied Toma with a gleeful look.

"Wow, I didn't think Frieza was the kinda guy to make big gesture like that! Then again, he's not known to make any gestures.", added Selypa in a sarcastic tone.

"Well I'm not surprised, I'd say we did a great job here on meat in such a short time to get that kinda recognition!", said Toteppo in a prideful manner.

"So what do we do now then? Just wait till Dodoria gets here?", asked Selypa. "Guess so, though it seems weird to me that we didn't just go meet Lord Frieza there.", said Toma in a slightly concerned voice.

"Ah, you worry too much. Let's just sit back and relax for once for finally getting what we deserve.", said Selypa as she plopped onto the ground trying to take a nap.

"Hehe, guess you're right", said Toma in a playful manner. The rest of the troop followed Selypa's lead, but as Toma layed down, he faced the sky with look of worry, feeling that something wasn't right, even if it was just a feeling.

* * *

Back on Vegeta, about two to three hours before Frieza arrived, Bardock made it back home to his hut. As he entered, he picked up a familiar scent that made him feel at ease. It was of his mate, Gine. She was a shorter woman with scruffy hair similar to Raditz but mush shorter. She was in the kitchen preparing a meal and didn't know Bardock had come back yet. Bardock decided to try and sneak up on her as a surprise. He tip-toed over to the kitchen and as he was about to wrap his arms around Gine's waist, he stepped on a creaky floor board and this startled Gine.

As an instinct, she grabbed a frying pan and wacked her assailant in the head with it. Bardock was struck in the head with the flat side and his eyes bulged as he was hit, causing him and the meat he bought, to hit the floor. "OW, WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR!?", yelled Bardock. Gine was still panting from being startled, but when she recognized the voice and face as Bardock's, she untensed and rushed to his aid to help him up.

"Oh My God, Bardock! I'm so sorry darling, I didn't know it was you!", said Gine in a guilty voice. "Geez, do you do that to every person that walks up to you?!", replied Bardock in an angry tone. "I do when they try sneaking up on me! What did you think was going to happen!?", rebutted Gine in an irritated tone, thinking about how dumb it was for Bardock to not assume that from the start.

Bardock gave her a gruff look and then darted his eyes away as he said his next words. "I..was trying to be romantic, alright!" A deep blush began to form on his face as he said this. Gine in turn blushed a little at her mate's attempt at seducing her. She replied in and aggravated tone "Well, you should know by now that isn't the way to woo me…but, I appreciate the effort.", she finished of with a sweet and soft voice, giving Bardock a peck on the cheek.

If Bardock wasn't gushing with blood before, he certainly was now. Gine, lightly laughed at his reaction and then went on to ask him a couple questions. "How come you're back so suddenly? I thought you'd be off on a mission by now?"

"Well I was planning to, but I got a head injury on Kanassa, so I'm gonna relax here for a couple hours. Doctor's orders". He knew this was a load of BS, because he would have left regardless if a doctor told him he couldn't go, but he didn't want to admit to her that he was worried and wanted to check on her; she'd never stop clinging to him nor let it be lived down.

She seemed to catch on to this, though, and began to tease him about it. "I don't think so, Bardock. I think you came back because you wanted to check up on me. Oh, aren't you the sweetest saiyan ever! *Sigh*, that's why I love you Bardock", she said with a large blush and her hands on her cheeks, moving her head from side to side.

"I so did not! I don't need to come and check up on you, you can handle yourself. And I'm not sweet!", said Bardock with a combination of a blush and scowl. Gine only looked up and smiled at him for his comment, knowing it was more of a compliment than an insult. He truly did believe she could take care herself most times, that was part of what Bardock loved about her, even if he'd never say it out loud.

Bardock's face then returned to normal as he shifted the topic of conversation. "So, where are the two brats?", he asked with a slightly annoyed tone in his question.

" _Raditz_ is on a mission with Prince Vegeta and _Kakarrot_ is in his pod still. I would like it if you address **our** children in a more respectful manner than that, Bardock.", replied Gine.

He grunted at this. He hated when Gine got all defensive for the kids, it was part of the reason why Raditz was teased for being weak in the first place. Being a member of the Saihon clan comes with a lot of expectations to live up to, and when you don't live up to them, running home crying to mommy isn't going to make it any better. Then there was Kakarrot. The kid was only three years old and he was already a mess. The few times he was taken out of the pod, he would go on rampages and break everything, and while this was normal in saiyan children, he was out of control with it. Then if he got hurt, he would begin to cry causing Gine to go and swoop him up to coddle him. This created Kakarrot to be a child who didn't know how to control himself and then to act weak when he didn't get his way. Bardock would never say this out loud, but he loved his wife and kids deeply, and he especially loved that Gine was gentler than most saiyans, but this did have its drawbacks. Gine's constant coddling made his sons turn to her as a constant source of comfort, and that wasn't something good to have in the PTO; it makes you timid and every time something goes wrong. All you'll do is scream 'Mommy' instead of fighting back. He just wanted his kids to be tough, which is why he was so aloof towards them.

"Raditz and Prince Vegeta, man would I hate be to paired with that kid.", he said as he shuddered at the thought.

"Oh, I don't think the prince is that bad, he's just a little spoiled.", replied Gine.

"I was talking about Raditz", said Bardock as he gave Gine that same expression that Vegito Blue gave to Zamasu.

Gine gave Bardock a light punch to the arm, knowing that he was kidding, but it still irked her when he made those jokes. Bardock took the punch and smiled lightly at how he could always get under her skin. He then shifted his attention to his second son. "So, how's Kakarrot coming along?"

"He's doing fine, he should be ready to permanently come out.", replied Gine after having calmed down. They both walked over to the machine and Gine began to look at his vitals as she spoke to Bardock. "The reading says he's healthy and should be ready to come out any day now. I sure am glad the Planet Trade Organization provided these incubation pods. Imagine if we still had it give live birth?! Though, I don't think I'd mind much, birthing is a bonding experience; brings the family closer together".Gine always had this way of looking on the bright side of things, and Bardock liked that, he needed a person like that in his life and he was glad he found it in Gine.

Bardock placed his hand on the glass of the tank and unexpectedly received another vision, but it didn't hurt his head that much, it was more of a light headache rather than the migraines he was getting earlier. In his vision he saw Kakarrot being sent off planet to that strange alien world he saw him on the first time. He saw him fighting strange creatures, but also befriended some of them, he even saw him fight a Namekian. _What the hell is a Namkeian doing on that planet as well?_ Just as the vision ended, Bardock caught a glimpse of Planet Vegeta's destruction again, though, something about it seemed different this time, but he ignored it knowing that destruction was the same no matter how it was done. Gine looked at Bardock and put her hand on where his hand was holding his head. "Bardock, are you alright? Is it your head injury"?

"Yeah, but I'm ok, just a little head ache." Bardock then went on to ask what he knew was impossible for Gine, but he had to do it for the survival of their race, and more importantly, their family. "Hey…if he's looking good and healthy, then maybe we should let them send him on an infiltrator mission?", he asked in anticipation of being struck in the head.

Gine didn't do that, though. Instead she just looked up at him with a look of anger. "Bardock, I thought we had talked about this already. We are not sending him away, remember what happened to Raditz!"

He then recalled how Raditz returned from his infiltrator mission clinging onto life. While everyone thought he would be fine with the planet's moon allowing him to become an Oozaru, it seemed the natives had a lunar transformation of their own. While the saiyans transformed into giant apes, these beings transformed into canid creatures called 'werewolves'. While their size didn't increase as much as an Oozaru, their strength grew a decent amount, enough to be issue for an Oozaru at least. After Raditz came back battered like that, she wanted to never let him leave Vegeta. Both Bardock and Raditz insisted that she change her mind, and after months of coaxing, she relented, but she swore to never let any other child she had go on an infiltrator mission.

Bardock then looked down at Gine and continued. "I know, but Raditz was only a power level of 15 at the time. Kakarrot looks just like me, so that means he probably got all my good fighting genes.", said Bardock with a hint of prideful arrogance.

Gine just stared him dead on and old him to do one thing. "Use your scouter on him". "Excuse me?", Bardock asked dumbfounded. "You heard me, use your scouter on Kakarrot.", she said not moving an inch.

Bardock complied in an annoyed fashion. "Fine, but I don't what you're trying to prove..with….this." Bardock looked at the power reading on his scouter with complete dismay. "T..two?! How could he be so weak?! He's a Saihon and my son to boot!"

Gine just stared at Bardock with the same expression as she had before. "That's exactly my point Bardock, he's not strong enough to go and conquer planets. Even by transforming, his power would only be at 200! So no Bardock, he can't be an infiltrator baby!", she said with a dead and stern look.

Bardock sighed at this. He knew it was going to unreasonable to ask her of this, but now that he saw how weak his son was, he was starting to question his decision as well. He then remembered his visions, and knew that he needed to get Kakarrot off planet, one way or another. He didn't want to go behind his mate's back so he decided to throw all his cards on the table and come clean, hoping it would be enough to convince her. "OK Gine look, I agree that it's a bad idea to send him away right now, but we need to. It's important that he be off planet".

"What could be so important to send him into danger and potentially get killed!?", asked Gine genuinely curious to what Bardock's answer would be.

"The fact that there's less chance of death than if he stays on Vegeta!", he said grabbing Gine and lightly shaking her. He realized what he had just done and apologized. "I'm sorry Gine, I didn't mean to do that.", he said with a melancholy tone.

"Its..its Ok Bardock. Why don't we sit down and you can tell me what's wrong.", she replied. Gine knew that even though Bardock was a ruthless warrior, he would never dream of hurting his family in any way. Because of this, she knew something must be wrong if he were to grab her like that. They both sat down on a couch that they had placed in the recreational area of their hut. Bardock then began to relay his story of the head injury and how it somehow gave him psychic abilities. He also told her the specifics of the visions, like the destruction of Vegeta, death of the saiyan race, and how Kakarrot would survive to avenge them one day.

After he was finished, Bardock lowered his head in shame. "You probably think I'm a lunatic don't you"?

Gine just looked at him and gave a warm smile and put her hands on his. "I already knew you were crazy; that's what I like about you, but I believe you. I know you can fib from time to time, but not over something this serious." Bardock jolted his head up at this, and smiled right back, knowing that his mate would always be there to support him. They both then got up from their couch with and eagerness in their eyes. "If what you saw is true, then what are we gonna do?!", exclaimed Gine.

"First off, I want to get Kakarrot off planet to that world I saw him on. Apparently, he'll make a good number of allies that will help him against Frieza." Gine was worried over sending her son away after the experience with her firstborn, but she put her feelings aside to make sure he was safe and would realize his destiny.

"OK, so then we'll do what you recommended and send him away under the guise of being an infiltrator baby."

"Sounds like a plan. You heard the callback on the communication channel, right?", asked Bardock.

"Yes, I did.", replied Gine.

"Good, then that'll give us about a day to get everything set. Even though most of us were on planet or have returned, there are a few that are a bit farther out in the Galaxy, so Frieza will need to wait until they all return if he really is going to destroy us. That gives us time to prepare Kakarrot for departure and for me to try to alert everyone else. I'll be dammed if we don't at least try to stop him.", he replied.

Bardock then turned to face Gine and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Maybe you should go with Kakarrot. You'll be safer with him than if you stay here.", said Bardock with a hint of worry in his voice. Gine looked up to him with a blushed smile and put her hand on his cheek.

"Even though I'd like to be by his side, I'm not leaving you and Raditz to die. Besides, he is your son, so he'll do fine by himself."

Gine said this with teary eyes, knowing that she had to send her son away and that she couldn't be with him. This tugged at Bardock's heartstrings, causing him to bend down and give her a comforting kiss. After they broke, he assured her, "I know how much this hurts you, but if I'm wrong, _I hope I am wrong_ , then we'll go and get him OK?" This seemed to calm Gine down and she replied 'OK' with a sniffle.

Bardock then gave her a hug goodbye, before he dashed off to the nearest tavern, hoping to let everyone know what Frieza was up to. Gine watched as he raced off, and she in turn began to prepare Kakarrot for his 'mission'. As she was gathering supplies in a bag for him, she stopped to look at the tank Kakarrot was floating in. "Be safe my little warrior, we'll come get you as soon as we know everything is OK", she said with light tears as she placed her hand on the tank glass. Kakarrot somehow knew that his mother was comforting him, because he cracked a small smile when his mother placed her hand on the glass.

* * *

At the tavern that Bardock reached, there were many saiyans of different shapes and sizes. Some were sitting at the bar and booths getting drunk, others were trying men trying to score some 'fun' with the women, and others were starting fights and breaks chairs. Seeing this made his realize how different he was from most other saiyans, at least know he was.

Before he met Gine, he would've been participating in the same shenanigans as everyone else here. He and Gine were a strange couple, since most saiyans didn't shack up with each other and the only relationships ever formed that were close to being like life mates was the occasional 'fuck buddies'. He shook his head remembering why he was here. He was going to tell them what he had seen in his visions ant that everyone needed to prepare for Frieze's arrival. He thought that if he went to recruit people who were buzzed, then maybe they'd be drunk enough to believe him, but sober enough to fight. Bardock didn't have time to go and talk to everyone individually, so he decided to get everyone's attention at the same time. He charged up a ki blast and fired it, but it didn't do any damage and only caused an explosion of light. Luckily it wasn't the same kind of light used to trigger the Oozaru form. As the light faded, everyone looked over to where Bardock was standing.

One person shouted out. "Hey look, its Bardock"! Everyone knew who Bardock was, and they began to cheer. He was well known for being a great fighter and to be the first low-class in close level with some of the mid-class generals and even the king. One saiyan came up and tried to butter up Bardock. "Hey man, how ya been? Why don't I buy you a drink and we can discuss you letting me share some of your planet profits?" Bardock became disgruntled at this and was ready to get into a fist fight, but recollected himself.

A female then walked up to him. "What's the matter Bardock, Gine not giving you enough attention at home?", said the female seductively as she rubbed his armor in the spot where his pec would be. Bardock had enough with this and started to yell. "ENOUGH, IM NOT HERE TO PLAY GAMES WITH YOU. YOU ALL NEED TO LISTEN TO ME, WE'RE IN BIG DANGER; FRIEZA IS ON HIS WAY TO DESTROY PLANET VEGETA!".

The room was silent until a collective laughter filled the tavern. Bardock got even angrier at this. "I'M NOT KIDDING YOU FUCKERS. WE NEED TO PREPARE FOR HIS ARRIVAL RIGHT NOW!"!

Another saiyan walked up to him putting their arm around his shoulder. "Haha, oh Bardock, you always were a funny guy. Frieza coming to destroy us, that's a good one!" This then started a whole banter between everyone in the bar. "Yeah, why would he ice us? He loves us, we're like his little gold mine!", said a large gruff male saiyan with his arm wrapped around the waist of a woman saiyan.

"No he doesn't you idiots! He's just using us to further his empire, and now we don't have a use to him anymore!", yelled Bardock in frustration.

"Oh yeah, you got any proof, Bardock?" Bardock was reluctant to tell them about the future vision, but decided he had to if he wanted to convince them. "I..saw it in a vision. I got future vision from a Kanassan right before I killed him.", said Bardock with a blush of room then broke out into laughter again and the saiyan that had his arm around Bardock made another comment.

"Haha, you must be one hell of a pregammer to come into here with a story like that."

Bardock had enough of it and threw the saiyan off his shoulder. "It's not a fucking story. Don't you guys get it, Frieza doesn't care about us! Didn't you wonder why Frieza called everyone back? It's so that he can get us all in one place when he destroys us! He's scared of our power, that's why he had his men ask around about the Super Saiyan, he thinks one is gonna be born soon".

This seemed to have swayed a few saiyans into questioning the integrity of Frieza's callback, since it did seem odd at first. Then another saiyan chimed in with a theory of his own. "Maybe he just wants to congratulate us all in person for doing so great on all his missions. I mean, we sure deserve it and maybe he finally realized it too."

Another saiyan then added his contribution to the conversation. "And who cares if he's asking around about the Super Saiyan, it's not like its real anyway. Maybe he's just curious about it?"

A female then threw in a comment of her own."Yeah, you're just paranoid Bardock. I heard you got hit in the head on Kanassa, maybe they hit you a little too hard. Hahaha!"

Everyone began laughing again, and Bardock had reached his limit. "Fine, I don't need you morons, I can handle Frieza on my own! Have fun dying without your honor, assholes!"! And with that, Bardock burst out of the tavern towards the PTO base, to ask Planthro and Malaka to get a pod ready for Kakarrot.

As he left everyone went back to gtheior usual business expect for one Saiyan who decided to call one of his allies. "Hey Zorn, you busy?...On break? Good, cause you gotta hear this."

* * *

Over at the royal castle, King Vegeta, a man that looked exactly as the prince expect with brown hair and a beard, was sitting on his throne, when a solider walked into the great hall to deliver a message. "Your Highness, Lord Frieza sends a message saying he will be arriving very shortly.", said the guard.

"Very good, let him know that I await his arrival.", replied Vegeta. "Right away, sire.", said the soldier as he left the room.

King Vegeta looked to his right-hand man, Zorn, who had just returned from his 5-min break. "Zorn, what are your thoughts on Frieza's current order? I for one don't like that he thinks he can command my army so, and I find it strange that he has called for ALL of us back."

Zorn, a tall saiyan with scraggly hair, gave his reply. "I agree King Vegeta, something seems off about this. In fact, a friend of mine just got off the scouter with me about how Bardock just ran into a tavern he was in, spewing some gibberish about how Frieza plans to destroy the saiyan race. Now my friend did say that Bardock seemed a little off and said something about him being crazy, but it made me think that perhaps that is why Frieza called everyone back. Maybe he wants everyone on planet, so that it'll be easier to get rid of us."

King Vegeta kept a calm look, but in his mind he was shocked. _Destroy us?! That sounds like something that bastard Frieza would do, even after all we've done for him. I knew he didn't give a shit about us, it was only a matter of time till this happened. As much as I'd like to, it wouldn't be wise to just go and outright attack Frieza. No, we need a battle plan. If Frieza is going to wait for all saiyans to return, then he'll have to wait for a day at least, two tops, for everyone to return. That should hopefully be enough time to gather the guards and upper level low classes to attack in secret._

"Zorn, gather all the guards and have them prepare for combat with the PTO. I think it's time we show Frieza the strength of the Saiyan race!"

"Right away sire, but I would recommend we have them be observant for the time being. All we have to go off of is Bardock's ramblings, and of he is wrong, then an attack may cause our destruction anyway.", said Zorn.

Vegeta mulled this over and agreed that it would be better to see how this played out. "Yes, wise decision, Zorn. Just make sure that they are ready for a fight if worse comes to worse."

"Yes, your Highness!", replied Zorn.

* * *

Back at the PTO base, Bardock rushed in looking for Malaka and Planthor and he found them both in the med bay, still looking over his data from the injury. "Hey Planthor, Malaka, I need a favor from you guys!", yelled Bardock as he flew into the medical room.

Planthor replied in a nonchalant manner, "I already told you, you need to rest, Bardock. And even if I agreed to get you a ship, you won't be going anywhere, didn't you hear about your race's callback?"

Bardock didn't have time for this and demanded a pod. "Grrrr, its not for me you dolts! I need one for my son Kakarrot. I want him to go be an infiltrator baby to get his hands dirty with some experience!"

Both Planthor and Malaka looked at him with a puzzled look. Malaka then replied with a bead of sweat running down his forehead. "Is Gine OK with this? Because I will not be at the receiving end of that woman's wrath, if the kid comes back hurt or dead"!

Bardock replied quickly, "Yes she agreed to it, now can you get me one or not?!"

Planthor replied, "We can get you one, but it won't be ready for takeoff by today. You know we have to prepare everything and have to go it over with Lord Frieza when infiltration missions are requested."

Bardock didn't really care if all the formalities were in order, he just needed the pod to be ready with the coordinates, so that he could sneak Kakarrot into it. "Yeah, yeah, whatever! Can you just have the pod ready to go in a couple hours? I'd like to come and..inspect if everything will be ready for him to go ASAP."

"My Bardock, when did you become so eager about your kids? Guess, Gine's rubbed off on you a little hasn't she?", teased Planthor, causing Bardock's face to lightly shade pink. "Yeah whatever, can you just get it ready?", he asked in anticipation.

Malaka decided to answer him this time. "I don't know why you care so much right now, especially since we said he won't be ready to go, but if it's that important than I guess we can ready the pod in an hour or so."

"Thanks guys really appreciate it.", said Bardock with a genuine tone. Malaka just brushed it off as simple impatience.

"Yeah, yeah. Where do you want to send him anyway?" Bardock then looked at the screen and scrolled through the list of planets being targeted by the PTO. As he reached the end of the list, he saw a planet that looked just the one in his vision. 'Earth' it said, and he then went on to read a quick bio about the planet. _Water based, atmosphere rich in O_ _2_ _, high plant/animal content, moderate climates and weather, dominant species' average power level: 5._ Everything about the place seemed like a perfect place to survive and thrive to hopefully become stronger. While the natives being so weak meant he would be safe from being killed, it also meant that there wasn't much chance for him to grow. He would have to trust that his son's saiyans instincts would push him to train his body to become stronger. He then looked at what the natives were like, and they looked identical to saiyans minus the tail. _Well, if he isn't able to fight Frieza, at least he'll be able to repopulate the saiyan race. Seems the humans could be compatible with saiyan genetics._ That settled it, he was going to send Kakarrot to Earth.

"This one Malaka, Earth." Malaka looked confused at Bardock. "Earth? But look at this planet, its full of weaklings. He'd squish them like bugs, there would be no challenge for him to grow."

Bardock then grunted at this and darted his eyes around before he spoke. "Look, I need you to keep your mouth shut about this, but…Kakarrot as a power of only two, so I need a planet like this that is more of his level.", said Bardock, embarrassed that his son was so laughably fragile.

"OK, Bardock if you say so. I'll get a pod ready and let you know when it's done.", said Malaka. "Thanks, Malaka, and you too Planthor, I owe you guys one". He then rushed back towards his hut to see how things were coming along with Gine.

"Yeah you sure do.", said Malaka as Bardock left. "Saiyans, even their babies are battle hungry psychos." He then began to prepare an empty pod with the coordinates to this 'Planet Earth'.

* * *

About two hours before Frieza reached Vegeta, after Frieza's ship had passed by Planet Meat, a fight had broken out between the saiyans that had been sent to cleanse it and those sent to destroy the saiyans. "GRRRR, TAKE THIS!", screamed Panbukin as he fired a ki blast at the man that struck him in the gut. Unfortunately, the man easily deflected the blast right back at Panbukin, killing him.

"Panbukin, NOO!", yelled Toma. He became enraged and rushed up to the man who deflected the attack. He managed to get a good hit on his cheek, but was then flicked towards the ground with a kick to the leg by Dodoria.

Toteppo stepped in for his friend to allow him to try and recover. "Selypa, go and make sure Toma is OK, I'll handle this." As much as she wanted to stay and help, she knew that Toma was more important right now and that Toteppo could hold his own. "OK, but don't you go dying on me fatass!"

"Hehe, wouldn't dream of it, besides you still owe me that sandwich.", chuckled Toteppo. Selypa smirked and then flew to Toma.

A solider attempted to stop her, but she rushed right at him and struck him so hard on the head that twisted around, breaking his neck. As Selypa reached Toma, Toteppo got into a fighting stance. "So, this is the thanks we get for doing the jobs you were too chicken to do huh? Glad to see were getting extra for this.", said Toteppo with a scowled grin.

Dodoria just stood there and laughed. "You sure are buddy, extra space in your coffin that is. If I were you, I would put my tail between my legs and run, you're no chance against me."

"I can take you on Dodoria, you don't scare me.", replied Toteppo.

"Well that's too bad, because you should be. You've gotten quite cocky haven't you Toteppo? You think just because you're part of the Ikeika clan that you can beat me? Look at your buddy, Panbukin over there. He was part of the Tayo clan, who are supposed to have great defense, but he got licked with one blast. Just cause your clan has high health and can take more hits, doesn't mean you're gonna win; you'll only be delaying your death and making it more painful.", said Dodoria in a mocking manner with an evil smile on his face.

It was true that Toteppo may have been getting in over his head because he thought his clan trait would prove effective against Dodoria, but even if it doesn't, he can't just run away when they killed Panbukin and will do the same to the others. "I guess we'll have to see, won't we?", snarked Toteppo as he began floating in the air.

Dodoria just laughed at that as he floated after him, "I guess we will, ape".

The two the suddenly clashed, with Toteppo making the first move. He dashed at Dodoria trying to land a hammer arm on top of his head, but Dodria teleported out of the way, appearing behind him.

"Looking for me?", mocked Dodoria as Toteppo twirled around ready to guard whatever attack was coming. Sadly, Toteppo wasn't fast enough and Dodoria struck him with a right hook right in the temple. This caused Toteppo to suffer a major headache. As Dodoria darted to hit Toteppo with another attack, the saiyan countered the only way he knew how, a full charge body slam. Lucky to say that it hit Dodoria head on and did some decent damage to his midsection, but it also worsened Toteppo's headache.

"Gaahhhhh!", gasped Dodoria after taking the brunt of the slam, "That's it! No More Playing Around!". As he said this, he was charging up a yellow ki blast that went straight for Toteppo. Because of the headache, the saiyan couldn't sense the attack coming and took the whole thing head on. The blast seemed to be enough to kill Toteppo, but not instantly. As he fell to the ground, he only had his thoughts with him. _Damn, guess I wasn't as strong as I thought; at least this headache will end soon. If I knew it was gonna be my last meal, I wouldn't have had just a protein bar back on Vegeta. Hehe, too late to regret that now._ And with that, he smashed into the ground with a great thud, only a few feet away from the other two saiyans.

They both looked at Toteppo's lifeless body and became furious as they looked up to face Dodoria. "Damn monkey really got me that time. I don't know why Lord Fireza doesn't just do away with the whole lot of them. Whatever, even killing a few of them is good enough for me.", said Dodoria.

Toma had recovered slightly from hitting the ground with Selypa there to support him. "DAMN BASTARD! HE'S GONNA PAY! GUHHH!", said Toma as he tried to get up, but his leg still hurt too much to stand.

"Toma, you can't fight right now, just wait here while I handle it!", said Selypa even though she knew that was a lie.

"Like hell I'm gonna leave you to fight by yourself and let some stupid injury keep me from doing it!", he said as he forced himself up into a fighting stance. Selypa was impressed by Toma's resolve and actually admired that a lot about the saiyan.

"Guh, you..you should go Selypa. There's no way we can take them on. Let me distract them so you can get out of here.", struggled Toma.

Selypa scoffed at that. "You think I'm gonna let you stay here and die so I can live to be a coward? You know living life because of retreat is a fate worse than death, so I choose death with my friend.", said Selypa with absolute resolve as she also got into a fighting stance.

Toma was touched by this and complimented her. The compliment may reveal his feelings for her, but at this point, he didn't care and wanted to at least get it off his chest. "Huh, I always liked that about you Selypa."

Selypa gave him a smile and blushed ever so lightly. "You always were a smooth talker, weren't you Toma".

Dodoria and his remaining cohorts finally landed on the ground where the two saiyans were. "Aw isn't that sweet boys, the monkeys have become love birds.", said Dodoira in a mocking tone.

"Then we'd better get rid of them soon, I heard monkeys breed just like rabbits.", said one of Dodria's accomplices.

"You're right, lets finish this before they start spreading.", agred Dodoria.

With that, both Selypa and Toma jetted towards Dodoria, each throwing punches and kicks with only a few ever landing. As Selypa backed up to gain her bearings, one of the accomplices sneaked up behind her and blasted orange ki into her backside, causing her to take a knee. Toma saw this and rushed to the attacker, punching him right through his gut, killing him. Unfortunately, the last survivor of Dodoria's underlings came and struck Toma into the side of a destroyed building, leaving Selypa all by her lonesome.

Dodoria walked over to her and grabbed her by her throat, slightly choking her. The accomplice made a perverted comment about Selypa as he saw her figure dangling there. "She's kinda cute isn't she, sir? Maybe we should have a little fun before we off her." Dodoria pondered with an ugly smile creeping on his face, but then Selypa threw an insult at them.

"I'd rather eat shit than let you pigs touch me", to which she then spit onto Dodoria's face.

It was safe to say that he was not amused with her little display and decided against having his way with her. "We probably shouldn't, I hear monkeys carry all sorts of diseases."

After making his comment, Dodria squeezed down on her throat, killing her in a matter of seconds, her body falling limply to the ground. Toma had got up and saw the entire thing go down, and he just sat there and did nothing out of the pure shock of it.

"YOU BASTAAAARD!", yelled Toma in a fit of rage. He tried to go for Dodoria's head, but his fist was caught by the pink man. Dodoria began to squeeze Toma's hand causing him to kneel to the ground.

As this was happening, Toma decided he wanted some answers. "Why Dodoria?! Why are you doing this, what did we do?!"?

Dodoria just laughed at the saiyan's desperate plea. "Its not what you did, but what you might do, you ape brain."

"W..what?", stuttered Toma.

"I guess I'll tell you since you're about to die anyway. Frieza has been getting worried about you monkeys ever since you had been improving and catching up to our own warrior's strength"

Toma had an expression of shock on his face. To think that they were going to die for performing well on missions.

Dodoria stopped talking to enjoy the expression on the saiyan's face and then continued. "As I was saying, you saiyans were growing much too fast, especially your offspring. Couple the fact that your powers grow by ten when under a full moon and you lot get boosts every time you come back from a battle. Frieza suspected an eventual uprising and that even if one of you alone wouldn't be enough to defeat Lord Frieza, a troop or the whole planet certainly would be. He was also worried about a Super Saiyan being born to dethrone him, so before any of that could happen he decided to wipe you lot out."

Toma's shock became even greater, but then Dodoria went on to finish. "At least that was the plan, before Lord Frieza decided to graciously spare your people. He thinks you apes still have a use to him, but in a couple decades that won't be the case anymore and you saiyans will finally be wiped off the map. So be glad knowing that your precious warrior race will get to live on a little longer. All the while being treated as pigs to the slaughter as you do all our dirty work.", stated Dodoria as he smiled wickedly.

Toma was still shocked and angry, but he now was also confused. "W..wait, if Frieza wanted to keep us around, why did you come to kill us?!"?

"Oh, that's an easy one. He ordered me to kill your troop because you were getting too strong. Yup, anytime a group of you saiyans get too strong, he'll just off you before you become a problem. That way he can use your race and not have to worry about you, so you can thank Lord Frieza yourself when you see him in hell in the next hundred years." Dodoria had finally finished monologuing and decided to end it with an uppercut to Toma's chin, causing him to die instantly…or so he thought.

Dodoria was too lazy to check the bodies to see if they were dead because he assumed his attacks were too strong to be survivable. "Hey, let's get going, you remember what Lord Frieza said.", said the surviving soldier to Dodoria. Dodoria then recalled what his master told him. " _When you have finished the deed, return to the ship at once. I don't want to wait any longer than I have to, so do not persist on Meat._ ". Dodoria tensed at the thought of what his master would do to him if he disobeyed. With that, both men got into their pods and left, unaware that Toma was still alive, but barely.

When the PTO soldiers left, Toma reached for his scouter that fell off when he was hit. He pushed the button for the communications channel, specifically that of Bardock's. _I hope that they haven't gotten him yet. At least he can survive._ Toma waited in agony for the receiving end to activate and luckily it did.

* * *

As Bardock was flying through the air he noticed that his scouter went off alerting him someone was trying to contact him. He stopped mid-flight and picked up, realizing it was coming from his friend Toma.

"Hey Toma, how you doing? I hope you left me some fun on Meat. Did you guys get to finish or did you have to stop to come back?" Toma was lying on the Meatian ground looking up towards the sky, which reminded him of the sky back on Vegeta; _At least it'll feel more like home when I die_.

He then replied with a strain in his voice. "No, we swept through the place lickity split, but that's not important right now. Bardock, every, *cough*, everyone's dead".

Bardock gave a look of shock when he heard this. "H..how?! There's no way the Meatians could've been that tough"!

"Hehe, you should know us better than that, Bardock. No, the person who did this was Dodoria. He..he came and said that he was going to bring us to Vegeta so that we could be thanked for our service in person…but it..it was just a trick to keep us here so everyone would think we died in battle. *Cough*"

Bardock then remembered the first vision he had, the one of Dodoria killing his troop. He became filled with rage, more at himself than at Dodoria, for not being there to fight alongside them.

"I know what you're thinking right now, Bardock, but you would have just died too, and you have a family to worry about, unlike us.", said Toma, who began to feel cold. Bardock became mad at Toma's statement and yelled into his scouter. "You moron, you're my family too and I just let you fight when I could have done something!"

Toma smiled at this knowing that his friend considered him more of a brother, because he felt the same way. "Guh, I'm glad to hear that Bardock. You've always been like a brother to me and the others felt the same, I can tell you that much. Listen to me Bardock, Dodoria said Frieza's going to blow up the planet in.." "I know.", interrupted Bardock. "But how did you…haha, seems fish face was telling the truth." "Yeah..seems he was.", said Bardock with a saddened tone. "Good, well then I'm sure you've come up with some crazy plan to save the others…I'm glad.", said Toma as he felt himself slipping away."

"What are you talking about, I'm gonna save you as well, you hear me?!", screamed Bardock as he could feel his voice begin to crack from the grief. "Not this time old friend. Its time I pay for my crimes. Maybe in a sense, I kinda deserve this. Make sure you take care of those kids of yours Bardock, we don't want them turning out like you, hehe hehehe….", were Toma's final words.

As Bardock heard the silence from the scouter, he felt something he hadn't felt for a long time, a tear rolling down his cheek. Bardock had toughened up when he was little, he had too. No one was there to take care of him, except for his good friend which he made on a mission once, Toma. The two had easily bonded when they first met and quickly became best friends. They would go on missions together, ate together, bunked together, snuck food together, and many more fun things. For Bardock's life-long friend to be..gone..was just something that was impossible to grasp; not because he couldn't imagine his friend dying, they were warriors and they both had some close calls a few time, but the fact that he wasn't there when he could have done something, when he knew something was going to happen, was what really sent him over the edge.

Bardock could feel himself slipping and his ki began to rise, with the single tear still falling down his face because he refused to let anymore fall. Just as he thought he was about to reach his threshold, right when his hair stood up and sparked yellow, in an instant it reverted to normal. Bardock was distraught over the slaughter of his friends' deaths, but he knew if he didn't hurry his family would be next. Even though he didn't reach to ceiling of his power, he noticed his anger broke some of it out, as he was flying much faster now.

When he landed, Gine turned to face him and noticed his eyes were a little red. Gine didn't want to hurt his pride by asking if he was crying or stressed, so she only asked if everything was alright. "Bardock..are you OK"? "I'm fine. Is Kakarrot ready?"

Gine wanted to press him more, but knew it was best to leave him to his mourning and ask later. "Yes, I have all the supplies I think he'll need packed up. He's still in the pod though."

"That's fine, we'll get him out in about an hour, then we'll go. The ship should be ready in about then.", said Bardock. Bardock then walked to the kitchen to grab a quick something to eat, hoping that some food would drown out the pain. Lucky for him he found something better, alcohol. He took the bottle out and began to chug its contents.

Gine saw this and became concerned that Bardock was bottling (pun intended) up his emotions. "Bardock..its ok to feel sad. No matter what it's about, its fine to feel grief. Do you want to talk about it?", she said trying to comfort him.

Bardock let his anger get the better of him because he then proceeded to yell at his mate, "Oh well isn't that nice Gine! You're right, crying about will make everything better. Hell, it sure fixed my problems after my mom died, and it sure helped when my old man decided to leave me on the side of the road, so he could go and live the party life!.." "Bardock, you know that's not what I mean.." "AND ITS SURE GONNA HELP BRING MY FRIENDS BACK TO LIFE NOW THAT THEY'RE DEAD!" After yelling his heart out, Bardock suddenly stopped in his tracks with his eyes completely still and he dropped the drink to the ground, shattering the bottle.

Wrapped around his waist was Gine, who suddenly hugged him and was now crying herself. "Bardock,*sniff*..why do you put this stupid tough guy act on all the time?! Don't you know that it's OK to care about other people? Stop being such a dummy! *sniff*.", she said as she buried her face into his chest.

Bardock then looked out to the window that was on the kitchen and outside by the tree in their yard, he thought he could almost see him and Toma when they were young, climbing around its branches, playing and having a good time; he thought he saw them in the present with the rest of the troop sitting underneath the tree relaxing and sharing laughs as they told stories of the past.

Bardock, couldn't keep it in anymore, as he felt tears gush out. He began to wail with pure sorrow over the death of his troops, his friends, his brothers and sister. Gine could only hold him tighter, hoping she would be enough to heal his wounds. After about a good five minutes of Bardock letting out his emotions, Gine let him go and they both still had a few tears in their eyes. Bardock just turned down to look at her and with a genuinely caring voice said, "Thank you.". Gine just nodded and gave him a smile.

Once they both composed themselves, they went to make sure that everything was in order for Kakarrot's leave. They then deactivated the incubation pod, which released the biofluid similarly found in the medical pods.

As Gine carried him out of the pod, Kakarrot slowly opened his eyes. "Mama?", he said with a cute childish voice. "Yes sweetie, it's mama.", replied Gine, hoping to keep him calm for the time being.

"Am I ready?", asked Kakarrot. While he didn't fully understand it, he knew that he had to stay in that big glass thing, because he wasn't big and strong enough to do stuff yet. The last time he came out, they told he had to go back in because he wasn't ready, so he thought that he finally was. "Just about honey, we let you out a little early because we have a special trip for you to go on, somewhere far away but fun.", said Gine.

"You come too?", asked Kakarrot, wondering why his mom only mentioned him. Gine began to choke up at this, knowing she couldn't be with her baby. Bardock decided that this would be a good time for him to take over.

He gestured Gine to hand Kakarrot to him so she could go cry away from him if she needed to. She recognized the gesture and gave him to him, but she decided to stay and keep her tears in as to not worry her son.

"Hi Papa.", said Kakarrot as he went into his father's arms. "Hello son.", said Bardock with a smile.

"Are you and Mama come too?", asked the tiny saiyan, knowing the answer might be no.

Bardock sat down on the couch with his son and spoke to him in a caring but authoritative manner. "Sorry son, but we aren't. You have to go on a special trip by yourself. You have to go and conquer a planet for mommy and daddy."

"What does conkur mean?", asked the young boy. Bardock then tried to think of a way to explain it to his son.

"It means you have to go and fight and kill people so you can be the boss of the planet.", said Bardock hoping his son would get the picture. Even though he didn't want Kakarrot to wipe out the humans because it could mean less allies for his son, if he was wrong and everyone found out he told Kakarrot to not exterminate the natives, they both would be killed for treason. Kakarrot then gave a gloomy look, knowing what 'kill' meant to an extent, and that he didn't like it.

Bardock then thought of a compromise for his son, so he wouldn't be unmotivated for his mission, but would still carry it out, if it needed to be."But make sure you don't kill the strong people. You want to be able to have good fights while you're on your trip, don't you?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I like fights!", exclaimed Kakarrot, who began getting restless in his father's arms. "OK, then you don't want mommy and daddy to be there to ruin your fights, do you? If we were there, then you wouldn't grow stronger. You wouldn't want that would you?", said Bardock to his son.

Kakarrot considered his father's words and came to a conclusion. "Papa, I don't want you and mama to come." Both parents laughed at how quickly their son changed his mind.

Gine then walked over to the couch and sat down, still teary eyed. "Well then Kakarrot, you have to promise us that you'll be safe when you go. Can you promise that?", she asked with her hands on his cheek. "I promise, mama!", said Kakarrot, oblivious that this would be the last time he saw his parents for a long time. Bardock received a transmission message from Malaka that the pod was about ready, and they left for the station.

* * *

Right before the callback, Vegeta, Nappa and Raditz, had cleared out Planet Katoge. The natives were moderately tough, for Raditz, but to Nappa and Vegeta, they were child's play. Raditz had done what Vegeta asked of him and stayed out of his way. He had only fought with some of the weaker enemies or those who Nappa had injured, but forgot to kill.

The Katogens had average power levels of 1,000, and with Raditz being at only 700, he didn't stand much of a chance. Nappa on the other hand, with a power of 4,000, mowed through the natives like grass. Vegeta had fought hardly anyone and only fought with the planet's champion, who had a power of 1,500. While Raditz would've been terrified to go up against him, Vegeta was sitting at a power level of 2,000, and at 8 years old no less.

Vegeta took his time defeating the champion as he didn't see anyone else as being enough of a challenge for him and didn't want to ruin his fun. The prince dealt the final blow by hitting the champion right in the heart, causing an agonizing death for the warrior; this all happened in the past two hours, as now the saiyans were sitting around recovering from the fights.

Raditz was clutching his right arm where one of the fighters struck him with their sharp claws. Nappa and Vegeta had a few scratches on them, but other than that they were fine. Vegeta was eating a piece of indigenous fruit, when everyone's scouters beeped.

" _This is a message from Lord Frieza to all saiyans. You are to cease all activities and return to Planet Vegeta immediately. That is all."_ , to which the scouter then went silent.

Raditz spoke up, "Should we head back now, you are the prince after all".

Vegeta was in a good mood so he decided to answer Raditz in a cordial manner. "Nah, we'll just pretend we didn't hear it. Frieza doesn't tell me what to do, so we'll leave when I feel like it."

Nappa then voiced his concerns of disobeying Frieza. "Would that be smart to do sire? Frieza can get pretty upset when people don't follow his orders."

"I don't care what he thinks, and if you're so concerned, the you can get in your pod and go be Frieza's little lapdog.", said Vegeta as he took another bite of the fruit. Nappa then sat down and gave a sigh at how arrogant the prince could be sometimes. Raditz agreed with Nappa, but didn't dare to voice his opinion and instead moved over to sit on a rock until Vegeta said it was time to go. He couldn't help but wonder why Frieza wanted everyone to come back, did he have some announcement to make? Raditz sat and thought this over as Vegeta kept on eating to his hearts content.

* * *

' _You have arrived at your destination'_ relayed Frieza's Navi System. They certainly did arrive at Planet Vegeta, as the ship hovered over the planet. Frieza was still contemplating what decision he would make regarding the Saiyans, as there were many pros and cons to eradicating the lot of them. As he was considering his options still, a messenger came and entered the room.

"Lord Frieza, King Vegeta has requested a visit with you."

Frieza decided to entertain the king. "Very well, but I will come to him. I was planning to descend to the planet anyway."

"Very good, sire, I will let the king know." The messenger then walked out to carry out his task. Kind Vegeta then received the message and awaited Frieza to come to the castle.

The ship left the atmosphere and landed near the castle ground. Frieza then left his ship in his throne, with Zarbon at his side as Dodoria's pod still had 30 minutes to return. A guard came out to escort Frieza to the throne room.

When he arrived there, he was greeted by the king. "Thank you for accepting my request Lord Frieza, I hope your flight here was uninterrupted".

Vegeta got up from his throne to meet Frieza face to face. "Yes Vegeta, my flight was fine, although we had to make a 'pitstop' for Dodoraia. He will arrive shortly.", replied Frieza.

"I see. Lord Frieza, might I ask the reason for your visit? Our next scheduled meeting was not for months, is there something wrong?", asked the king.

"No nothing of the sort, I just have announcement to make. That is why I called all of the Saiyans back to your planet."

Vegeta then began to voice his gripes, though he was worried of Frieza's reaction. "Yes, about that Lord Frieza. While I have been grateful for the work you have provided us, I would appreciate if you would consult me before making decisions as big as this. The saiyans are my people, and are under my order, not yours."

Frieza gave the king a glance and was tempted to strike him simply for his comment, but restrained himself for the time being. _I will treat him for his insubordination, but not at this time. Not if I want to continue using the saiyans._ "Well King Vegeta, you accepted my treaty, which gives me full jurisdiction over your planet and its resources; resources which would include your men, so they are in fact under **my** orders."

King Vegeta, was enraged at this, but kept his expression neutral, only releasing his anger through the clenching of his fist. The king the gave a simple bow, "Yes Lord Frieza."

Frieza then began to move out of the castle, and Zarbon followed behind, but not after giving the king a malicious grin. "I will be making my announcement later tonight, I do hope you will be able to attend your highness."

"As you wish Lord Frieza.", replied the king. Frieza then left the throne room.

King Vegeta addressed his advisor Zorn. "Have the spies been assembled, Zorn?"

"Yes, your Highness, they are ready and on standby.", replied the vizier.

"Good. I know stalking isn't the saiyan way, but these are concerning times. It will be dusk soon, have the spies get into position.", said Vegeta.

* * *

Back at the PTO base found on Planet Vegeta, Bardock was sneaking around trying to get his son to his pod. Many guards were patrolling the halls, and he had to get him and his mate holding their son, past them.

At last they made it past everyone and to the pod bay. Bardock looked around the bay and found a lone pod that looked ready for lift off. _That must be it, there's no other pods in here._ "Gine, I found the pod. You and Kakarrot come over here."

Gine then looked left and right to make sure no one was around, and dashed over to the pod. Kakarrot's parents then gave him a hug, but not before his mother gave him a kiss, and placed him in the pod. As the door closed, he placed his hands on the glass of the hatch with a look of sadness, knowing he wouldn't see his parents for a while, he even missed his brother a little. He enjoyed the few times he got to play with his brother and would miss being able to do that.

His parents looked back with the same expression and placed their hands on the glass as well. "Don't worry son, you'll do fine. You're a Saihon, you are strong, no matter what anyone says; never forget that.", said Bardock.

"Your father is right, but remember that kindness is a strength of its own. Follow your heart and never forget that you are a saiyan!", said Gine.

"When you get to Earth, make sure to find a shelter", said Bardock, and then Gine finished his sentence, "and don't look at the full moon for long, unless you're in danger." Gine then continued as she placed a bag into the pod with Kakarrot through a tiny door that was designed for storage. "This food should last you for a week when you land. If we don't come to get you in a year, then abandon your mission Kakarrot, its more important that you stay safe and live a good life. Just remember Kakarrot...". Bardock then pressed the launch button, and both his parents looked on as his pod lifted into the air as they both said, "...We love you."

With that, Kakarrot's ship then blasted off leaving a trail of light in the sky. "How long until he gets to Earth.", asked Gine in concern for her son.

"About six months, the planet is on the far side of the universe.", replied Bardock, "but don't worry, I activated stasis, so he'll survive the trip.". Bardock then embraced his mate as they both looked up at the last hope that their race had, slowly blast through the cosmos to face his destiny.

* * *

 **Wow, this chapter was long. I didn't even get to finish everything I wanted to say in this chapter. That's ok, though, I'll wrap things up on Vegeta in the next chapter, then the story is going to focus more on Goku for a while. We'll pop in on the saiyans every now and then, but it's going to be shifting to mainly Earth from now on. Once again, tips would be greatly appreciated, and if you see any grammar/spelling errors, let me know so I can fix them. I might only have time to get one more chapter out before Spring Break is over, so don't expect a constant chapter update (I take my studies seriously and don't get a lot of free time because of that). Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you in the next one.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hey guys! So here is the new chapter. I know it's been a little while, but like I said before, I've got school to do. I was planning to start writing about Goku on earth after I finished the origin arc, but I know you're probably anticipating a new chapter, so here is the conclusion to the origin story arc. I promise the next chapter will be about Goku and I'm excited to get started with that. Leave a R &R and I'll see you in the next chapter.**

Chapter 3

Star Child

* * *

Planet Vegeta was experiencing its time of dusk, as its solar system star faded behind the horizon. Frieza was sitting in his suspended throne as it hovered out of the Saiyan King's castle. Frieza was finalizing his decision on whether to keep the saiyans around. He had been wrestling with this thought all day, as there were many pros and cons to letting them live. His biggest issue was going in direct opposition of Lord Beerus's wishes to destroy Planet Vegeta. His father had warned him many times about the amounting strength of the Destroyer God. Yes, the space tyrant was quite worried about what the deity would do to him, if it was discovered that he disobeyed him. Luckily the Destroyer had gone into one of his infamous, century-long naps. Frieza could just kill the Saiyans when Lord Beerus came close to waking up, and his Guardian Angel Whis couldn't care less and would keep his mouth shut, as long as he was provided banquets. As Frieza left the castle and the star vanished from the sky, he caught a small glimpse off a streak of light shoot across the sky. Even though the light was moving away from the planet rather than towards it, Frieza had too much on his mind to notice this and assumed it was a shooting star. The 'meteor' gave the tyrant an inspiration to what he would do with the saiyans. He pressed his communicator button and sent a message for all the Saiyans on Vegeta to gather at the center of their city. It was time for Frieza to finally enact his plan.

* * *

Bardock and Gine both looked up to the sky as the light from Kakarrot's pod faded. Gine was still crying and Bardock lightly held her as she sobbed. He felt bad for her and felt badly himself. He didn't want to make Gine cry and he didn't want to send his son away, but these were desperate times. Suddenly, the couple received a message on their communicators from Lord Frieza to go the city center district. They both looked at each other and assumed the worst. Against their better judgment though, the decided to go and see if what they thought would be true, maybe they could find Raditz and get him off planet before anything happened. They flew off in the direction of the district at breakneck speed, but they then had to slow down as it was getting darker. Bardock had to carry Gine since she was slower than him, but he didn't mind, and Gine was enjoying herself, as evident with her giddy smile as she rested on Bardock's back.

When they arrived, they saw many saiyans were already there and crowding the small city square. It was very noisy with the chatter of everyone's questioning of their gathering. There were saiyans of many shapes and sizes. Some had short hair, some long. Others had it spiky and others smooth. Their hair colors were the standard black but there were some with brown and dark blue, as those colors were relatively common with saiyans. There were a few individuals that had odd features such as brightly colored hair, or oddly colored skin. Bardock assumed them to be half-breeds and no one associated with them, so they stayed off to the side. Saiyans from every clan were here, which almost never happened because of the fights that would break out from clan feuds. When they were able to find an opening, they landed in the spot and began asking around if anyone had seen their son Raditz.

Gine asked around with a look of motherly concern and while the women were either sympathetic or indifferent to this, it made the men feel uncomfortable yet oddly aroused. They knew better than to try and mate with her, as she was Bardock's and everyone knew the reputation he had. Bardock was also asking around with more of a serious expression on his face. The men were wondering why Bardock even cared in the first place and the women kept trying to flirt with him. He got irritated with them and just stopped asking any women altogether. As he was sifting through the crowd, Bardock bumped into someone. The women looked up to the person she bumped into and was about to get into a brawl, until she noticed who it was.

"Bardock?! Im surprised to see you here.", said the women as she looked up at the saiyan. Bardock looked down to the familair voice and when he made eye contact, he frowned and scowled. "…Hello, Cavasa.". Cavasa was Bardock's older sister, but they didn't act much like family (I suppose that is typical for saiyans). She was a bulky saiyan, but she still had some feminine features, like a plump pair of breasts and long eye lashes. Her hair was naturally spiky and its length rested at the middle of Gine an Raditz's length, essentially the end residing at the start of her rump. She spoke in a manner of those who grew up as low-class in the country side. Bardock used to speak this way too, but learned to speak with proper accent so people would take him seriously. Cavasa didn't care, though, and wore her background on her sleeves. Cavasa gave Bardock a disgruntled look and prompted to ask him a series of questions.

"S'been a while, Bardock. I haven't seen you since you told me yous and Gine was getting permanent." (When a pair of saiyans become 'perm' or 'permanent' it was essentially the same thing as what other races would call 'marriage'). As the two glared at each other, Gine managed her way through the crowd and reached her mate. Cavasa then looked over to see that Gine was standing right there next to him. "Gine, doll, what have you been up to!? Ya look good, finally getting some beef on that scrawny body of yours, Hahaha!" Cavasa then went in and gave Gine a strong hug and a hard pat on the back. Cavasa enjoyed seeing Gine, even if she thought she was a bit of a pathetic weakling. She always wanted and sister ans she got to enjoy that feeling with Gine. The thing she enjoyed the most was rubbing it in her brother's face whenever she got the chance. Bardock had picked up on this earlier in life, and this caused the tensions between the siblings to worsen.

Gine was surprised to see her sister-in-law here and was startled by the sudden embrace. "Ehehe, it's good to see you too Cavasa.", said Gine after having the life squeezed out of her. Bardock wasn't ecstatic to see his older sibling. After their mother passed and their dad kicked them out, she wouldn't let him stay with her. The reason was something along the lines of, " _If I let ya stay here and baby ya, yur gonna come up to be a chump like Paw. Besides, I don't need little tykes buggin me about getting hurt or being hungry. Your 7 years old, ya can take care of yurself. Don't be comin ta me if it aint somethin important, ya hear?! Otherwise, I'll pound ya in!"_. Bardock knew that she just didn't want to be bugged with taking care of him and he couldn't entirely blame her, ( _doesn't mean it still didn't hurt to be abandoned)_ he thought, and she did make good on helping him when it was important. When he was being hunted down to be sold into the exotic food market, he got his sister to 'send a message' to his pursuers and they stopped tracking him. After that, Bardock wasn't as mad at his sister for not raising him anymore, he was glad that she didn't because he became the warrior he is today by living on his own. He still didn't forgive her completely and she didn't make it easy to.

"So, what are you doing here Bardock? I didn't think when they were calling in all the warriors, that it included you." Bardock then tried to keep his composure, as Cavass always had a way of getting under his skin. Usually there accidental meetings would start like this and then escalate into a fight. Even though she was smaller than him, she was older and with more experience, so she would win most of the time. She wasn't as mission heavy as he was though. No, she felt more suited to act as a stupid planet patroller to make sure no one was causing too much trouble. She found it more enjoyable to fight other saiyans that some weaklings on other planets.

Bardock then tried to reply in the calmest way he could. "If you had any brains, you'd know that Frieza called back every Saiyan, and my power level is around 10,000 right now; I'm pretty sure that classifies me as a warrior." He said try, didn't he?

"Ohohoho, does baby bro feel up to a fight right now? You think that cause your level is higher I can't still kick your ass?" The two siblings then glared at each other, until Gine stepped in to resolve the conflict.

"Ok, Ok, let's not do anything we'll regret later. You two are siblings, you shouldn't be fighting." Gine then gave glances at each sibling as she gave a mini lecture. "Bardock, show some more respect towards your sister, she might not have raised you, but shes been there when it was important. And Cavasa, you should kinder to Bardock, as the eldest, you're supposed to be the protector of the family name." Both siblings then shofted the other way with an embarrassed blush, simultaneously saying "whatever". Gine then went on to ask Cavasa of she had seen or heard about Raditz?

"The one with the lion's mane? Na, haven't seen em, but I think I know someone who has." Cavasa then turned around to where a group of children were sparring with each other. "TURLES, COME OVER HERE! I GOTTA ASK YOU SOMETHING!", she screamed at the top of her lungs. Everyone looked at Cavasa for screaming so loudly and the named saiyan turned towards the direction he was called, with a look of embarrassment. The young lad then darted over to Cavasa, hoping no one would see it was him that was called out.

"Yes mother, what do you want?", he said with a disgruntled tone. His mother then glanced at the boy. "Watch your tone skamp or I'll whack ya. Anyway, these two got a question to ask you." Gine and Bardock just looked dumbfounded that Cavasa was now a mother. They looked down at the child and he looked just like Kakarrot, except his skin was a bit grayer. Gine fought back every tear in her being. Bardock then went on to ask his sister about how it is she became responsible

"Wanna explain where that came from?" Turles then shot a look at the man who he didn't know to be his uncle, for calling him 'that'. Cavasa then went on to elaborate about how she got drunk one night and had spent some of her free time with this guy she met at the bar. She forgot she was on the clock though, so she ended up putting the squirt in an incubation tank. Turles didn't really care that he was an accident, to him it made no difference how he came to be, just if he could enjoy the life he has. Bardock was a little surprised to find out Cavasa let her guard down that much, since he knew her to be the most paranoid person he'd ever met.

Bardock then got irritated with this fact and lashed out at his sister. "Huh, looks just like me. So, what made him more appealing?" Cavasa then raised her voice as she didn't feel like getting into this dumb argument again. "Again wit the ' _Nobody took care a me'_! Will you quit being such a bitch about it. You turned out fine didn't ya. Since you asked, I decided I'm gonna raise the brat cause he's my kid, and since he's mine, I know he'll have better potential than you. It just seemed like a better use of ma time." As the two were ready to brawl and Gine to break them up, Turles interrupted them.

"Oh, so you're my uncle Bardock then? My mother has spoken of you in the past about how you're a great warrior and that she wants me to be just like you." Turles himself didn't want to be a copycat, but if his uncle was as strong as his mom said, then it wouldn't hurt to learn a thing or two from him.

Cavasa then turned beet red and bopped Turles on the head. "Ow, what the hell was that for?!", yelled Turles as he rubbed the large comedic bump on his head. "Quit lyin about stuff or ya ain;t getting any dinner tonight, ya hear?!", scolded Cavasa. "I ain't lying, but fine, whatever.", said Turles, still rubbing the spot he got hit as he scowled at his mother.

Turles then turned to face the couple as the woman spoke to him. "Hello Turles, my name's Gine and I'm your aunt. I'm sure you know already, but this is your uncle Bardock". "Yes, I assumed that much, pleasure.", he said with a light bow. Bardock laughed at this as it was such odd behavior for a child, and a saiyan one at that.

"*snicker* Did you fuck a nerd Cavasa? I know this kid ain't getting that vocab of his from our end of the gene pool. You must have been pretty drunk to let one of those scrawny chumps from tech man-handle you.", he mocked with a grin. Cavasa gave him a glance, but was also blushing as it was partially true. While he wasn't a complete weakling like Bardock made him out to be, the man she mated with does work in communications. He doesn't help out with raising Turles much, expect for the occasional babysitting or Turles going to visit him between missions. She doesn't care that much as child raising isn't inherently saiyan and no one expects you too. It wasn't awkward for them as situations like this were normal. Hell, she'd even go and visit him sometimes to mess around, but she made sure they both had protection from now on.

"Bardock, watch your mouth, he's just a boy!", shouted Gine at Bardock as she slapped him on the head. Bardock cowered ever so slightly, so that it was only noticeable to Gine.

"It's Ok Aunt Gine, I hear much worse from my friends and mother. Anyway, you guys had a question for me, that's why I was interrupted right?"

Gine was taken aback by the mannerism of speech this little boy had, so she decided it would be best to try and speck cordial to him. "Yes Turles, we wouldn't bother you if it weren't important. Do you know your cousin Raditz by any chance?", asked Gine.

"Yeah, I know Raditz, we hang out a lot and I knew he was my cousin for a while. We go on missions together sometimes too.", replied Turles. "Oh that's great, do you happen to know where he is? He told me he was going on a mission with Prince Vegeta, but we're not sure if he's returned yet. I'm worried something happened to him", said Gine.

Turles then recollected his thought as to the last time he saw his cousin. "The last time I saw him was when he was recruited by the prince. Raditz was getting beat up by Magnolia again and then the prince came in to tell Raditz to get ready to go on a mission. I was thinking of going in to help Raditz, but he seriously needs to learn to fend for himself." Bardock winced at the thought of his firstborn getting wailed on by a girl. His sister did it to him all the time, and there was noway he was gonna let his son turn into a pussy. When they found Raditz, he was going to put him through the training of a life time.

Gine the had a look of disparity on her face. "Yes he told me about that too, but I haven't heard any word of the Prince's return, meaning Raditz isn't back either. Oh, I hope he's alright!"

"Have you tried calling him?", said Turles with an obvious tone. The couple then had shocked looks on their faces and Bardock turned to face his mate as he scolded her. "How could you not have tried that already?" "I was so focused on getting Kakar.." Bardock then cut her of with a nod, signaling to not mention what they had just done. "Kakarr…carrots! I was busy making carrot stew that I forgot to call him. Yup, carrot stew, that's what I was busy with.", she finished off with a nervous and sweaty brow. The mother/son pair knew she was lying, but since they didn't even know about the existence of Kakarrot, they didn't bother to press her further.

"*sigh* I can call him up and see what he's doing, if it'll make you feel better."

Gine became ecstatic and gave Turles a hug and kiss, just like an aunt would do to spoil their nephew. "Oh thank you, thank you, thank you Turles. You're such a sweeheeart!"

Turles wanted to pushe her off, but the hug felt...nice, and he didn't want to be rude to his newly met aunt. As Gine put him down, his blush faded and then Turles clicked on his scouter to call his cousin.

After a few beeps, the receiving end picked up. _Bzz_ "Hello, who is this?", replied Raditz as he clicked his scouter to respond. "Hey cousin, how ya doin?", said Turles through the scouter. Raditz was surprised to hear his cousin on the other end of the communication channel. "Turles? I'm surprised to hear you calling me right now. Is something wrong?"

"No nothing's wrong, I happened to finally meet your folks and they said they're looking for you. I said I'd call in and ask where you are.", said Turles. Raditz then sweat dropped at Turles meeting his parents. He knew his mother was probably embarrassing him in front of his cousin and if Turles was there then his aunt was most likely as well, so now they both had ammunition to tease him. His father was probably just being aloof as he usually was, so at least his father would treat him normally when he got back. "Are they there with you? Don't let them talk to me right now! Just..just let them know that I'm still on my mission because Prince Vegeta is keeping us here longer. I don't know why, but he just is."

Turles then gave a perplexed look of why the prince disobeyed the order of Frieza. "Didn't the prince hear about the callback though?" Raditz then shifted his gaze over to the prince, who was kicking rocks on the ground. Raditz then gave an annoyed look as he spoke into his scouter. "Don't say anything, but I think he just wants to prove to himself that he isn't under Lord Frieza's command. He isn't even doing anything right now, just keeping us here because he feels like it."

"I'm not surprised, he always seemed full of himself.", replied Turles. "Yeah, but don't let him catch you saying that stuff, or he'll blast you before you even see his finger lift.", said Raditz.

"Yeah I can imagine. Anyway, I'll see you whenever you get back on planet. Safe flight back.", replied Turles. Raditz gave a grunt of thanks and approval and went offline. Turles then turned to face his aunt and uncle. "Did you both hear that? He said the prince is just holding them up. He'll be back whenever his Highness decides to leave that mudball." Both parents gave a sigh of relief, but Bardock's was less noticeable. Cavasa then turned to the couple with a curious face.

"Why did you guys want to know where Raditz was so badly? Somethin wrong?" Bardock then considered if he should warn his sister of the impending doom of Vegeta. He wanted to, but from what his past vision showed, it was too late to get anyone of planet without being noticed. If he was going to die, he was either going to die fighting or be with his family. Bardock has been fighting his whole life, for once he'd like to just sit back and relax. He looked to his sister with a blank look, which then turned into a scowled smile.

He then walked over and placed his hand on her shoulder. "No, I just had a bit of a wake-up call when it comes to the importance of family, so you should make sure to come visit more. It'd be nice for us to catch up and I'm sure Raditz would like to have his cousin over to spare with more often."

Cavasa gave her brother a surprised look and began to blush at the embarrassment of being treated like family for once. She jolted herself around and crossed her arms not daring to face Bardock "I..I..Whatever! You were always a softy, I aint surprise you'd say something sappy like that! I'd never come to yur place even if the owner of that fancy restaurant gave me lifetime access to his kitchen…" she gave a brief pause before she tunred slightly to his direction "so you'd better make yur dinner twice as good as his, ya hear?!".

Bardock just gave a surprised look, then bent his head with closed eyes as he chuckled. "Hehe, don't worry about that. Gine's an amazing cook, almost as good as Maw was." Gine looked over with glee as Bardock seemed to slowly but surely let his resentments go. She then walked over to Cavasa and gave her a warm smile.

"Yup, I can guarantee you'll love my cooking, and Raditz would love to have someone to play with. Does that sound nice to you Turles?" The young boy then looked over to his aunt. He was exicted to have someone that he'd be able to hang out with on a consistent basis, and he liked his cousin's company, even if his power level was embarrassing. Turles had his little reputation to uphold, so he put his hands behind his head and tried to act aloof to seem cool.

"Yeah, that's fine I guess. I don't care either way.", he said with closed eyes, but a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his head and a tint of pink brushed on his cheecks. Gine caught onto this and simply gave the boy a light chuckle and rub of the hair. Turles was starting to like his mother's side of the family.

Cavasa had stopped being red and said her goodbyes as she took Turles with her. She was glad that things were getting better with her brother. She had felt bad about abandoning him in recent years and to her firstborn, who was now who knows where. When she found out she was pregnant with Turles, she decided she wouldn't make the same mistake thrice. She thought Bardock would hate her forever and that they would always feud, but today was proof that there was hope for them. She walked through the crowd, tail linked with her son's, a smile on her face.

Gine and Bardock both looked as they pair walked off. They were glad that Raditz was off planet, meaning their kids would live on. Bardock was glad that he made up with his sister, somewhat, before he lost that chance forever. He then frowned, knowing he wouldn't be able to come through on his invitation. Gine saw this and grabbed his hand as an attempt to comfort him. Bardock felt his mate's tiny hand grasp his and it eased him. They both looked at each other and then walked off towards the center of the square where Frieza had finally gathered to do the deed, still holding hands. They would enjoy each other's embrace one last time, and Bardock wasn't afraid to show it in public for once.

* * *

Frieza had gathered to the center of a platform that was set up for him to project to all the saiyans gathered. The sky was in a mix of sunset colors as the star hid beyond the horizon. Torches that were setup, lit into life as the area got darker. Zarbon stood behind his emperor and glanced down at all the saiyans. He then looked to the side towards the front where the king had a mini-throne set up for his seating. He noticed that the smaller one reserved for the prince was empty though. "Lord Frieza, have you noticed that the prince has yet to arrive?" Frieza then looked to the location of the king and indeed saw no prince. The tyrant knew that the little baboon most likely disobeyed his callback order as some form of juvenile rebellion. He would deal with it later, but at the moment there were more pressing matters to attend to. "It's fine Zarbon, he doesn't need to be here for this." Zarbon then went on to ask, "Are you sure you would not like to wait Lord Fireza. Dodoria has yet to return as well, so we could wait a while longer.".

"No Zarbon, I would like to carry on with my plans. Those buffoons will arrive whenever they arrive. I would advise you not to question me Zarbon.", replied Frieza with a scowl on his face. Zarbon took the hint and apologized with a bow. The tyrant then went on to continue with his plans.

The king looked at Frieza with suspicion, but was also looking around to check on the positions of his hidden guards. All over the city, there were saiyans hiding in the shadows, looking down from building tops, and blending in with the crowd below. The king had a bad feeling about this and he wasn't going to go into this unprepared. Frieza lifted a single finger up and this worried the king, who sweated with a glance to his advisor Zorn. Zorn nodded back and gave a quick hand signal for the assassins to ready their attack. A small light formed at the tip of Frieza's finger and he began to smile. King Vegeta was getting concerned now and why the assassins hadn't taken their shot yet. Zorn knew better than to jump the gun and that right now wasn't the moment to strike.

Bardock and Gine were standing in the front row and saw the ki ball being charged in Frieza's finger. They knew what was coming an Bardock hugged Gine as she buried her face into him. He looked on with anger and horror to what was about to happen, and that they could do nothing to stop it. The king was becoming frantic and bulged his eyes as the ball grew bigger. The assassins narrowed their eyes waiting for the signal to strike. The ball had reached a its maximum size and had floated up above the buildings. All the other saiyans were worried to what Frieza was doing and the few that were in the bar when Bardock was yelling started to think he was telling the truth. The ball lifted into the air more and the faces of the saiyans grew more king was ready to burst out of his seat and the assassins were getting restless, still having not received the signal from Zorn. Just as Zorn was about to give the signal, the ball burst in the sky and produced an array of colors that complemented the night sky.

The saiyans who were suspicious of Frieza all looked on with confusion. Everyone else was in awe of the display as the colors danced in the heavens. Zarbon was perplexed at what his master was attempting to do and Bardock was in so much shock he thought he was about to faint. Luckily, Gine caught him and supported him on her shoulders. Bardock had a look of pure terror on his face as his head veins bulged and eyes twitched. No one could see, though, since he was looking towards the ground. _W..wh..what the fuck just happened?_ , thought Bardock. The king looked on with uneasiness, knowing that he was wrong and that this could waver the trust of his people, at least of those guards who were in on the plan. Zorn and his men looked up with a surprised yet struck expression, wondering what had just happened. Bardock was still in shock, thinking he was in some kind of bad dream and that he just hadn't woken up yet. He was so sure that his visions were real and now he looked like an idiot to his mate and his peers. Worst of all is that he sent his son away based on his didn't understand though, his vision about Dodoria killing his troop was right, so why wasn't this? _Could..could it have changed somehow?...Was this not set in stone?_ , thought Bardock. The colors in the sky began to fade and he was then interrupted from his thoughts as Frieza began to speak.

The tyrant moved to the very front of the platform and his face was enshrined in the glow of the fire torches. "Saiyans of Planet Vegeta…I'm sure you are wondering why it is I called you all here. My answer is simple. I have taken notice of the speed and efficiency your race has been completing missions. Because of this, I have deemed that you deserve a reward of sorts, thus I am giving all saiyans a one-week paid break. You may do as you wish and I will have funds available for you to use for a festival, feast, or whatever you wish. Let it be known that those who succeed in the Planet Trade Organization are compensated for their hard work and that the saiyan people are a race worthy of such. Now enjoy yourselves, and as you do, remember it was I who gifted you this!"

The city grew into an uproar and many were chanting ' _Lord Frieza_ '. Zarbon looked at Frieza with a shocked look, but eventually regained his composure. He understood that his Lord had decided to prolong these monkeys of their demise and that this was a simple alibi for his summons of the saiyans. It seems not everyone was fooled though, as the king looked over to Frieza with a scowl. He knew that Frieza had something up his sleeve, but to think he would try to gain his peoples loyalty over his was one he did not expect. The tryant looked down to the king and saw the look on his face. He gave a sly grin right back, as though he knew exactly what the simian ruler was thinking. King Vegeta saw Frieza's glance and in frustration grunted and walked away with a turn of his cape. Zorn was looking on with a perplexed look, felling as though soemthign was off about this. He signaled to the assassins to stand down and regroup at the castle. One by one the trained killers dashed away back to the castle to regroup. Even though everything was fine right now, Zorn had a feeling this was far from over.

* * *

Everyone in the crowd was celebrating their time off and shouting for joy, except for an odd couple found on the outskirts of the festivities. Bardock was sitting on a bench with Gine next to him and her hands on his head. She had a look of worry as he looked like he was about to explode. No doubt he was beating himself up for his vison not coming true. He had sullen look opf defeat plastered on his face and he didn't dare raise his head up from his shame. Bardock just looked down, thought racing through his head. _How..how could this have happened? Could time really have changed?_ Bardock suddenly remembered that his second vison looked strange, but the detail was so minute that it went almost unnoticed. In the second vision, Planet Vegeta looked different, the landscape from a spacial view was greener, meaning that the planet was different than it was now, meaning that this event was going to happen in the future, how far ahead he didn't know.

Bardock looked distressed at this and just as he was going to tell Gine, another vision struck him. Once again, he saw future Frieza floating over future Vegeta and he was readying his ki ball to destroy the planet, but this time Bardock had dashed into the void in attempt to stop the tyrant. He unfortunately failed when he faced the demonic figure and was engulfed by the destructive ball. Later the scene faded to his son Kakarrot facing down against Frieza on some green planet. His son looked determined to defeat the monster, as he stared Frieza down with unrelenting eyes. Bardock suddenly came back to reality and breathed heavily, eyes bulging. Gine had been clutching onto him, worried that he was having a stroke of some sorts. She saw that he was distressed and bringing this up right now would make it worse, but what she was about to say was important and needed to be said.

"B..Bardock..I'm going to go get Kakarrot now. I know you're upset about being wrong, but.." Bardock then shot a look at her. She saw this, not realizing what she implied when saying that and lowered her head. Bardock wasn't mad though, as his expression turned into one of acceptance.

"You're right Gine. I was wrong, it's my fault that I caused all this drama and that we sent our son away, but I need you to just trust me one last time. If you want to leave me after this then fine, I won't blame you, but please…just this one last time, trust what I'm about to say." She was unsure if she should take his word this time. It's not that she thought he was lying, just that his judgement was skewed. Against her own judgment, though, she stayed and listened. Bardock swallowed as what he was about to say would the craziest words he'd ever let leave his mouth. "Gine…we need to keep Kakarrot on Earth." Before he even knew what hit him, his check was red and had a stinging feeling. He placed a hand on where he was struck and looked down to see Gine with tears at the edge of her eyes, but also a look of rage.

"How could you ask that of me after I already let you send him away in the first place! He's just a cub and now he's out there all alone having to fend for himself. I expected better of you Bardock, especially since you know how that feels!" Bardock didn't have a reply to her and faced down in shame. Everything she said was right and he felt horrible for asking her for something so unreasonable. He tried to muster up a response, though.

"Gine..You have every right to be mad at me, but I need you to trust me please. I was wrong, but I was wrong about the time it would happen. The future changed somehow, but I still see Kakarrot as being able to save.." "ENOUGH BARDOCK!", screamed Gine. Bardock looked at the rage she was exhibiting and was slightly worried about what she might do to him.

She began to cry as she yelled at him, with her eyes held shut. "I'VE HEARD ENOUGH OF THIS BULLCRAP! YOU WERE WRONG BARDOCK AND BECAUSE OF THAT, MY BABY IS BEING SENT TO HIS DEATH ON SOME FARAWAY PLANET WHERE I CAN'T BE THERE FOR HIM! AFTER ALL THAT, YOU EXPECT ME TO LET HIM STAY THERE?! TELL ME WHY I SHOULD TRUST YOU!"

Bardock yelled back and shut his eyes from yelling so loudly. "BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT MATES DO!" Gine's eyes then shot open, still with tears rolling down her face. She could see how much pain Bardock was in right now and she was surprised by his answer. She was curious to what he meant by that. Bardock then began to speak, stuttering has he held back every tear his eyes. "I..that's…that's what it means to be life mates, isn't it? We trust each other, because we….love each other. I…I know you're mad and you have every right to be..but….but I just need you to trust me. I have no one else left who will. I..I can't lose your's too."

Gine looked at him and felt bad for him. While she was still mad and knew she was in the right, she knew he made a decent point. "I'm..I'm sorry for yelling Bardock. I know you're not trying to lie or trick me, but…" she began to sob once more "…I just can't lose him. I miss my baby, Bardock." She cupped her face as her knees feel to the ground, her body too weak from sorrow to support her standing any more.

Bardock looked down at her and felt disgusted with himself. It was bad enough he was wrong and sent their son away, but to ask something so drastic from his mate to make her cry like this, especially since she had comforted him not too long ago. She deserved better than him, but she chose him regardless and he was going to make sure he did everything he could to make sure she never cried like this again. He got on his knees and scooted up to her, embracing her in a gentle hug. She grabbed onto him and began to wail as Bardock tried speaking to her, his eyes watery, but not letting it trickle out.

"It's ok Gine. I know how much you love our kids, that's why I love you, but I need you to please trust me with this. I don't want him gone any more than you do, but this is the best thing for him. At least out there, he can be who he wants to be and doesn't have to grow up to be a bloodthirsty killer. I know how hard it will be without him, but I promise he'll return one day….and if he doesn't...then I give you permission to lay me down." (This is a saying in Saiyan culture meaning that if I have wronged you, you can lay me down in the ground. Essentially, you have permission to kill me as payment for my misdeed towards you.).

Gine had been resting her head on his shoulders and she looked over to him when he said this, she moved off him and stared him down with a wince of tears. "Don't say stuff like that! Losing Kakarrot would be bad enough, I don't want to lose you too!" It took everything in Bardock's being to hold back the waterworks, but not without it being evident that he was, as he let out a few sniffles. "*sniffle* Hehe, you always know how to get me all mushy, don't you Gine."

She smiled at him when he said this and placed her hand on where she slapped him. "*sniff* Yeah, well you make it easy, cause you're a big softy *sniff*, but that's what i love about you." Bardock chuckled at this and considered her eyes with longing, wishing he could ease her every worry. Perhaps later tonight he would have that chance, but right now he needed to convince her to leave Kakarrot on earth.

"So will you trust me?", he asked with hope of a yes. She looked into his eyes and saw his look of desperation. "*sigh* Ok Bardock, even if it pains me to do so, I'll trust you this one last time." Bardock's expression lightened up after hearing this. Even though the future had changed, he had a feeling that his son was destined to defeat Frieza, no matter the timeline, and this would only happen if he stayed on Earth; For some reason, that planet was able to bring out the latent potential of Kakarrot. Bardock looked to Gine and tried to reassure her that this was for the best. "I know how much this is going to hurt, but this is the best we can do for him so he can realize his destiny. I know he'll return one day. He'd never be able to forget a mother as amazing as you, and I know that you'll be in his heart right there with him as he prepares to return." This seemed to make her feel slightly better. The two had gotten up off the ground and were ready to head home, until a vicious voice was heard.

* * *

"What are you monkeys crying about, you just got a fucking festival for Pete's sake"! Bardock knew this raspy voice and hearing it filled him with rage. He turned around to where the voice came from and there he saw a fat, pink man staring at him with contempt. Dodoria had just returned from slaughtering Bardock's crew and luckily, Lord Frieza was feeling lenient today and left him off with a warning for showing up late. The pink blob saw the couple coddling each other earlier and walked over to see why it was they were sobbing. He then looked over at the male and widened his eyes when he noticed it was Bardock. _Shit I forgot about their leader, well as long as he isn't on to me I should be fine_. "Oh, Bardock, I didn't recognize you sitting there crying like a bitch. My guess is that you heard about your troops failure on Meat. Guess they weren't up to the challenge.", he said with a devilish smirk.

Bardock spiked his ki and looked like he was about to murder someone, because he was. "Don't…don't bullshit me Dodoria! I know what really happened, and you're gonna pay!" Dodoria looked shocked, wondering how it is that Bardock could have known. He then realized that he didn't care how, but knew that if Bardock figured it out somehow, he was going to have to get rid of him. _Whatever, he would've died if he was on Meat, so I'm just cleaning up the leftovers._ Dodoria noticed Bardock charging up a ki blast and he decide to charge his own.

The two were getting ready to fire them until a new voice arrived. It was smooth but also cold as it spoke. "What is the meaning of this?" Both adversaries turned to the voice and saw none other than Lord Frieza himself, hovering in his throne, looking down at the pair. The tyrant had picked up a pike on his scouter and the signature was similar to Dodoria's, so he went to investigate.

They both disengaged and Dodoria quickly went into a bow. "M..my Lord! Apologies for wandering off. I saw this pair off saiyans distressed and went to see what was wrong. Then this male was trying to start a fight with me!"

Frieza looked down at Bardock and saw the glare he was being given by the saiyan. "Is this true saiyan?" Bardock didn't reply but only stared back with contempt, tightening his fists. Frieza was not amused by his silence and asked again in a sterner manner. "You are to answer my questions when they are asked of you saiyan, or there will be punishment. I ask again, is this true?" Bardock just intensified his stare and clenching, looking like he was ready to burst. Frieza didn't have the patience for this today and decided he was going to teach this monkey a lesson. He closed his eyes with a sigh and then opened them again. "Seems as though I'm going to have to teach this simian how to respect his superiors." Dodoria looked down at Bardock and smiled, thinking about what his master had planned for him. Frieza lifted his tail and was about to swing it towards him, but he stopped when he noticed there was something in the way, a tiny saiyan woman to be exact.

Gine had been dumbfounded this whole time with Bardock about to fight Dodoria and then Lord Frieza stepping in. She snapped out of it once she saw Bardock was about to be hit and she jumped in front of him, in the same manner as Piccolo would do for Gohan in the future. "L..Lord Fireza, please forgive my mate. He has suffered head trauma from a mission that he recently returned from. He is not in his best state of mind right now, so please forgive him." She then shut her eyes, anticipating being struck with the tail for speaking up to Frieza, but after a few moments she opened her eyes to see that she was fine. Frieza had retracted his tail as he seemed to believe the tiny female.

Frieza replied in stern manner with a hint of annoyance. "Very well, I am in a good mood today, so I will pardon your mate's transgressions. I would recommend keeping him inside if his psyche is not stable at the moment, or bringing him to the medical bay." Gine sighed in relief and got on her knees to bow in thanks. Dodoria looked upset that he wasn't going to see Bardock trampled into the dirt, but he got over it. He was still slightly curious if and how Bardock would have known about what he did, but he decided to keep it to himself. If Lord Frieza knew he missed one on Planet Meat, he would have his head for sure. With that they both walked off without another word, and Frieza was deep in thought as to if he had seen that saiyan somewhere before.

Bardock looked at Gine on the ground and proceeded to yell at her. "What the hell were you thinking getting in front of me like that?" She got up and looked over to him and screamed a question of her own. "What the hell were **you** thinking trying to fight with Dodoria of all people, and then ignoring Lord Frieza when he talks to you?! Why were you going to attack Dodoria?!"

Bardock looked at the ground and clenched his fist as he softly spoke. 'It was him…he was the one who killed them." Gine was wondering who he was talking about, until he remembered that his troop had recently died, and Dodoria even briefly mentioned it. She had a look of dread, knowing that the killer was right there and that he was pretty much untouchable. "How did you know it was him."

Bardock clenched even tighter when he recalled how he could have stopped it. "I..I saw it in a vision, but I ignored it cause I thought they were just my imagination, but*clench*Toma confirmed it for me when he called my channel to tell me what Dodoria did." Gine saw how upset this made him and wanted to comfort him, but he stopped her in her tracks as she was about to hug him. He looked up to the sky and spoke with hope in his tone. "That's why…That's why I know that my vision of Kakarrot will come true. He'll return and beat Frieza. For us, for our people, for them, and for everyone else that's had to suffer under Frieza's boot." Bardock lifted his hand up to the sky and tried to grasp it, but brought his hand down when he didn't catch anything. He looked at his hand and smiled, then turning to Gine. "Trust me Gine, that boy is something special." She smiled a this and scooted up next to him and he put his arm around her waist. They looked up at the night sky with all its twinkling lights. All the stars glittered, each telling their own stories. The pair both knew that their son was now one of those stars, ready to share his own story. A single meteor shot across the navy ocean in the sky, and they knew this to be a promise from the universe that Kakarrot would one day return in the same manner, to save them all.

* * *

 **Welp, there's the end to the origin arc. Tell me if you guys liked it or if there were things you think I could improve on. Don't expect the next chapter to be soon, but I'll try to work on them as fast as I can. Have a Happy Easter and God Bless!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey sorry for the long wait. I'm gonna wrap up the Planet Vegeta saga really quickly and get right into Goku's life. I thought that it would be cool if the saiyan language was a jumble of Japanese, but I might change that as I don't know the language and don't want to come off as some weeb who uses Japanese improperly. Anyway, here's the chapter. P.S you should imagine the voices from the anime when reading this, and when we get to DBZ, you should imagine the Kai voices.**

 **Chapter 4**

 **A New Path**

* * *

A lot had happened since that day Frieza spared the Saiyan race from extinction. Bardock and Gine had trudged their way back to their hut to wait for their first born to return from his mission, but not before Bardock went to take care of important business. He went to the two medics, Malaka and Planthor, to tell them about the missing pod and to keep quiet about it. The two medics were less than pleased to hear this. They were mad that Bardock had tricked them and feared what Lord Frieza might do to them. The saiyan wasn't going to explain his motives, though, as he didn't feel he needed to; he was his son and he decided what was best for him. All he said was for the two medics to keep their mouths shut and to hide the infiltrator report in a secret file or something of the sort. The medics were reluctant to do so until Bardock threatened to blow up their lab and them along with it, if they didn't do what he asked. Bardock might have softened up a bit from this experience, but he was still a saiyan warrior and would make sure to remind the medics of that. The two knew he wasn't bluffing and complied with his demands. Bardock then gave a slight apology for his threat and was on his way back to his mate.

The two sat in the hut waiting to hear back from their son, and after a few hours, they were informed that he was entering the planet's atmosphere. The two rushed over the pod landing bay and awaited their son to exit his craft. Raditz waltzed out, but was suddenly intercepted by his mother's embrace. To say he was embarrassed was an understatement as he tried to wriggle himself out of the woman's grip. The young prince and aged general then exited their pods and gave the family a glance. Vegeta looked at Raditz with a coy smile, as a signal of mockery for being hugged by his mother in public. Nappa looked as well and thought of doing the same, but saw that both parents were there. The general knew who Bardock was and how he had climbed in power tremendously. He was close to the king's power level, but he was born a third-class and would stay that way the rest of his life. Even though Nappa knew Bardock had to obey his orders, seeing as he was a mid-class general, he knew that Bardock was much stronger than him. Nappa then gave a simple gruff as the prince ordered them to move on. The couple saw the prince and gave slight bows as he moved along. After the prince had left, Gine has pestered Raditz for detail of his mission. Raditz then briefed them on how he was able to take on a few soldiers, but that most were too strong for him. The child lowered his head in shame until he felt a hand rest on his shoulder. The hand was his father's, who was giving him a scowl, which then turned into a slight smirk. The boy was told to prepare for training tomorrow, as Bardock wasn't going to let his seed be weak and get beaten by a girl. Raditz gasped at how his father could have known about his fight with Magnolia, but he didn't care. His father wanted to train him to get stronger, and that was all that mattered.

The prince was walking to the palace to meet his father and tell him of his conquests, and though hypocritical of his teasing of Raditz, wanted to feel his mother's embrace as well. He arrived at the gates and was let into the massive building. He and his guard, Nappa, walked along to the throne room where the king was sitting, looking rather distressed. Prince Vegeta made himself known to the king in an exuberant way, regardless of the obvious atmosphere. The prince and general gave a bow to the king and when they were saluted, the prince ran up to his father to brag about his victory. He told of the soldiers he fought and of the planet's strongest warrior, which he dispatched with ease. The king looked at his son merrily, at least he had something to be proud of right now. As the boy continued, King Vegeta pondered about what had happened but only a few hours before. After they had returned from the announcement Frieza made, the king made sure that their attempted assassination would never leave the room that he and his soldiers stood in. Each warrior agreed, but many were shaky in the trust of their king. His Highness noticed this and become worried at his peoples wavering loyalty. If his personal guards couldn't trust him, then what would happen if the common folk became aware of this. King Vegeta was interrupted from his thoughts as his son pulled on his beard to gain his attention. The king went wide-eyed and grunted at the tug. The king then gave his son a simple pat on the head and that he should go train or do something else, as he had many political things on his mind right now. The prince rolled his eyes, but agreed to his father's command, going on his way to his personal chambers. Nappa tried to accompany the prince, but was halted by the tiny royal. The prince wished to spend some alone time to relax and ordered the general to go elsewhere. The general was reluctant at first to leave the prince alone, but eventually agreed, knowing Vegeta could take care of himself on the home planet. Nappa then went on his way to relax at the bar and indulge himself in some liquor, hoping to get a nice buzz and potentially a lucky night with a lady. The prince walked up a case of stone spiral stairs that lead to his room, but then took a jump onto a support beam and crawled his way through the structural vents. The prince had found these vents on accident a few years ago, and used them to spy on the servants and his parents. One time he caught his parents mating and decide to stay away from their chamber. He did however, visit the throne room and meeting room frequently. The young prince crawled his way to the meeting room where he saw his father and a few other dignitaries conversing about Frieza. The prince was intrigued and listened in, hearing about how they almost assassinated Frieza because they thought he was going to blow up the planet. The prince winced at this, thinking about why they would think this. Vegeta had never liked that slinky lizard, telling him a prince what to do, but knew that they were nowhere near powerful enough to kill him. The prince would be sure to keep an eye on the tyrant and to have his guard up around him. Vegeta then crawled back through the vents, towards his room, to think about what he had just heard.

After his announcement, Frieza returned to his ship and flew off to one of his base planets. In his mind he was running through the many possibilities and possible scenarios that could play out due to his decision. He would make sure to prepare for every possible contingency. His two subordinates looked at their master with concerned looks, wondering if Frieza had made the wisest decision. While they wouldn't dare to tell him he was wrong, they both felt this was going to somehow come and bite him in the rear.

Back on planet Vegeta, the saiyans had used their break and funds to create a festival and fighting tournament. The whole week was spent with lively music, plenty of food, and friendly brawling. Bardock and his family had only spent a couple days of the week at the festivities and spent most of it training Raditz. The training was hard for the tiny saiyan, but he enjoyed it and could feel himself getting stronger, plus the time with his father was nice, even if he was a bit gruff at times. The few times they went to the festival was to stuff their faces and to see the tournament. They walked along to see dozens of different foods stands and performance displays. It was a full emersion of untainted saiyan culture, consisting of only traditional foods and practices. It was nice to have events like this, where they could act their true selves without having to adapt their behaviors to outsiders. The last day of the break, the father son pair had gone to see the finalists of the tournament. Bardock had considered entering, but after everything that happened, he wasn't in the mood for fighting. The Royal family had attended the finals as well and sat up in their elevated booth, looking down at the dirt fighting ring in the center. Two saiyans stood in the middle of the stands of people who were chanting loudly to start the fight. The one on the right was quite large and bulky, indicating he was probably part of the Ikeika clan. The ogre of a saiyan had a tan skin tone and his hair was buzzed, with the only real hair present on his face as a mustache. His opponent stood across from him, staring blankly at the brute. The opponent was smaller, but not weaker, as shown by his large muscles. The warrior was pale skinned and had hair that resembled a frontward mohawk, but was thick like a lion's mane. They both stood still for a moment as the wind blew across the dusty terrain. It was dead silent until the larger warrior jolted forward trying to hammer arm the other fighter. The mohawked saiyan dodged effortlessly, though, as the brute was much too big and slow to land a hit. Mohawk then slid under the brute and kidney kicked him, causing him to collapse to the ground. While the fight may have been short, it was quite entertaining to see such a smaller warrior defeat the giant. The crowd roared for the victor who looked towards his fans with a smirk and raised a fist. The King was impressed by this warrior and rewarded his victory with a feast, as was promised to the tournament victor. The winner respectfully declined, saying how he only entered to prove that he could win, and decided that the feast should go to all the spectators. The crowd cheered even louder at this chanting "Mohawk", as the warrior never revealed his name. Bardock decide to head back with his son, seeing no need to go to the feast when Gine had been preparing a small one for themselves. He was making good on his promise to his sister to come for dinner. The pair flew back towards their hut, with smiles on their faces, in anticipation of the food they were about to engorge in.

The father son pair landed in front of their tiny hut and were greeted by tiny Gine, who was standing at the front door entrance, waving as she saw her boys return. Raditz ran up to his mother to tell her all about the day he spent with his father. Bardock looked away and lightly huffed, as he still had his saiyan pride and didn't want to look like a complete softy. Gine looked annoyed at him, but soon got over it when their guests of honor arrived. Landing soon after were Cavasa and Turles. Raditz ran up to Turles to greet him, and the Kakarrot doppelganger returned a simple smile. The two adult siblings looked at each other with daggers, but then broke into laughter. The family went inside the tiny hut and Cavasa and Turles looked around at their extended family's home. It was a simple home with two stories to it. Nothing spectacular or techy like the upper-class homes, but nice nonetheless. The walls were made from the white plaster that most saiyans homes were built with. Near the front door was a tan, two-seat couch made from a linen-like fabric and right behind the couch were the stone stairs that lead to the second floor. At each corner of the couch was a square brown pillow, with embroiders in each. The first said 'Iteka' (which is saiyan for home or family) in sown thread that matched the color of the couch and the other pillow said 'Yotsu' (it's one meaning for strength/power) in the same manner. On the floor was a woolen rug from a sheep-like animal and next to the couch was a simple floor lamp with a cliché red shade. They then passed by the kitchen which was a few feet away from the couch area. In the kitchen was a large, cobblestone, chimney oven. The fire pit was at the bottom of the oven and above it was the little metal door where food went into to be cooked. The oven was multipurpose and could cook almost anything in it, acting as a stove, toaster, and to an extent even as a microwave oven. Next to the oven was a small, stone water basin, with an open window above it and a few wooden cupboards to the side. On top of the cupboards was a stone slab counter top where Gine prepared all their meals. On the other side of the oven was their only electronic kitchen item, their refrigerator. Everyone then walked to the dining room and gawked at the display. The dining room had a smooth, gray, stone table surrounded by metal bar chairs with black cushioned seats. The circular furniture wasn't what they were stunned by, though. On the table was an array of dishes as far as the eye could see. Bean soup, roasted bird, braised swine, grilled fish, and tons of steamed vegetables in noodles on the side. A pitcher of yellow, iced, fruit juice sat in the middle of all the platters and the saiyans all sat down ready to eat. Gine looked at everyone and laughed at their displays and sat down with the rest of her family and they then dug in. The table had been preset since there was so little to set up. While saiyans were somewhat civilized and ate with utensils, they only used one, which acted as a multi-eating tool. They did use plates, but most of the time there were there for decoration. Even Gine had to admit that she ate rather barbarically when she gets hungry. The family stuffed their faces and chatted with each other. The two boys talked about little boy things like their kill count and planets they had recently purged (What? they are saiyan boys, of course their chit chat is gonna be violent.) The adults talked about more civilized topics, such as family matters and how they were holding up financially with all the taxes the PTO was implementing. Bardock and his sister did talk about their conquests, but only briefly as Bardock was still emotionally sore from his troop's death and wasn't in the mood to talk about purging. Gine was more feminine than her sister-in-law and was more interested to hear the juicy gossip of how Cavasa met Turles's father. Cavasa blushed at this and reddened even more when her brother scooted forward, smugly grinning, to hear in on the story. She declined though, saying how the story wasn't kid friendly and that she would tell it another time when the boys weren't around. Everything went downhill from there when Raditz suggested that Turles meet Kakarrot to compare how similar they look. His parents stopped dead and looked at their son. Raditz could feel the tension in the air and that his parents were going to tell him some bad news regarding his brother. Bardock then explained to Raditz that they sent Kakarrot away on an infiltrator mission. Raditz dropped his eating utensil at hearing this and yelled at his parents, asking why they did that. Turles and Cavasa looked at Raditz wondering why he was so upset, when it was common for babies to go on mission after they left the pod. His parents, however, knew exactly why he was upset. Raditz could remember his own mission and how terrified he was, and although not terrified enough to stop fighting, it was why he is much less reluctant to charge into battle. He was glad to hear that his mom would never let his brother go on one, wanting to make sure the same would not happen to Kakarrot, but now his brother was gonna get traumatized just like he was. Bardock tried to make an excuse for why they sent him, but Raditz was having none of it and sucker punched Bardock in the face where his scar was. The boy's father looked stunned as his cheek stung slightly and he saw the tiny warrior with a face of rage, facing him. Raditz was pissed with his dad, knowing he somehow coaxed his mom into sending his brother away. Sure, Kakarrot was a little annoying the few times he came out of the pod, and even bit his tail once, but he looked up to Raditz. Raditz never wanted his brother to have to deal with the same childhood he did. Bardock noticed Raditz's anger and sighed, deciding it'd best if he stay at his aunt's tonight. Cavasa looked toward his brother, still with a shocked look from seeing the tyke take a shot at his old man, and agreed, saying that it would be smart in case Raditz tried to kill him in his sleep tonight. All the adults chuckled lightly at that, but Raditz just looked away with gruff. Turles went to his cousin and cheered him up saying that they could spar when they got to his hut, to blow his anger off. This seemed to calm the boy down enough to go peacefully.

After they awkwardly finished dinner, Cavasa and Turles headed back to their hut with Raditz tagging along. Before they left, Bardock tried to reassure him that they sent Kakarrot away for a good reason and to trust his judgment. Raditz gave glance and walked off without saying a word. Bardock looked at his son walk off, disappointed that he couldn't get through to him. He then said how Raditz gave him a good punch and that they'd have to work on it more when he came back tomorrow, hoping to get a reaction out of the boy. It seemed to have worked as Raditz looked back at his smirking dad, but then he turned back with a brushed blush replying with a 'whatever'. The trio the flew off with a wave goodbye, except Raditz.

The system's star was beginning to set and Gine was cleaning up the mess left at the table. Some of the scraps were put into preserving containers and thrown in the fridge, while others were tossed out the window into a hole in the ground that served as a trash hole, where they let the indigenous animals come and get rid of their scraps. Dishwashing was simple since there were so few dishes to clean and because of the special soap provided by the PTO. All you had to do was fill up the basin, throw in the dishes, sprinkle in some of the soap powder, leave it to soak overnight, and in the morning, they're sparkly clean. Gine had just sprinkled in the powder before she was scooped up away from the kitchen and up the stairs by her mate. She was then plopped on the bed where Bardock then shuffled up to her, attempting to initiate her mating instincts by brushing up against her and giving small pecks to her stomach Their bedroom may have been small, but it was cozy and it was theirs. There was a small closet where a few sets of armor where hung and there was also a bathroom with a single sink, toilet, and shower. Their bed was in the middle of the room covered with a navy-blue cover sheet. The regular white sheets underneath smelled like a mixture of lavender and their own scent, which Gine enjoyed laying in. Off to the side she could see the blue curtains that covered their bedroom window, where she had a few plants sitting on the window sill. Gine was embarrassed by Bardock's advances, so she darted her eyes away to the night table they kept by the bedside. It was a little, dark wood table with a single drawer for putting their scouters and other small items in when they went to bed. On top of it was a small lamp with a round, blue shade on it. Bardock noticed his mate getting flustered, and thinking it was cute, tried to advance towards her face, but was then stopped. Gine gave Bardock a concerned glance. She was probably worried about Raditz and his reaction earlier. Bardock let out a sigh, telling her that everything would be fine and that he was just upset right now, but he'd get over it. Bardock did feel bad that Raditz was angered from learning about what happened to Kakarrot, but he was prouder at his son for taking a jab at him, in defense of his younger brother. If Raditz decided to get his shit together, he would be a great warrior and a great mate/parent if he decided to settle down when he was older. The couple then gazed into each other's eyes, having dealt with so much in the past week, wanting to relieve each other's stress. Gine gave Bardock the go ahead and he went to lightly kiss her neck. She shuttered at this, letting out tiny moans. This turned Bardock on as he slowly moved up her neck to meet her lips. They embraced in a deep kiss, and as the star lowered beyond the horizon, the couple enjoyed their moment of privacy to full extent.

The next day, Cavasa brought Raditz back and the boy made up with his father. The week had finally ended and everyone was getting back to their routine of planet purging, except Bardock. No, Bardock was going to stop purging planets as the scare of his own planet's purging had made it so he couldn't do it without feeling hypocritical. Even if he was still ok with it, he vowed to never join another troop again as an honor to his fallen comrades. Instead, he stayed home with his wife and trained his son whenever he wasn't off on a mission of his own. To provide revenue for the family, Bardock took up menial jobs on planets, like butchering with his wife, cargo carrier like his friend Zukini, or patrol duty with his sister. Everyone on planet had heard that the great low-class warrior Bardock had reduced himself to trite labor work. Word had soon got around that he did it because he was probably afraid that Frieza would have his head if he heard about all the nonsense he was saying about him last week, and Bardock had to admit that may have been part of the reason. Bardock went from planetary celebrity to local laughing stock, but he didn't care as he could still kick all their asses. For the most part Planet Vegeta and the saiyans stayed relatively the same and went on with their lives, except for one individual, who was blasting off towards an unknown world.

* * *

 _6 months Later_

Kakarrot had been is stasis for months, and was just beginning to wake up from it. He was about a day from his destination and the pod had awoken him up to allow the toddler to mentally prepare for the landing. He woke up to see the black void of space and many brightly colored flashing lights along the metal wall surrounding him. The boy began to panic as he forgot why he was here. He then stopped to think about what happened and remembered his parents sending him off in this weird ball thing, to go fight some people. He then remembered the bag his mom packed for him and found it next to him in his seat. He opened it up and gobbled down all the food that was in there. Being in stasis for so long forces the body to use its nutrient reserves, and if you didn't eat before you left, you would be starving when you woke up. Kakarrot looked around the pod he was in and found a tiny screen. Curious about it, he touched it with his finger which then lit up with a sky-blue background. A bunch of letters then appeared on the screen, but the boy was too young to read the universal language or his native language. He then saw an icon with a picture of a planet on it and pressed it, as it was the only thing he recognized. The letters then disappeared and in its place, were tons of pictures depicting his mission. This feature was added for the infiltrator pods in case the child was too young or dumb to read. The pictures showed the blue planet that he was going to and of the natives that were on it. The natives, humans, looked just like saiyans except they didn't have any tails. Kakarrot thought this was weird and assumed that they were some weird weaker version of him. He then touched a picture of a clock which showed him a day/night cycle of the planet. It seemed the day and night was evenly timed, where on Planet Vegeta, the days were longer. The diagram then focused on the picture of the full moon. This remined the boy about how the moon is special somehow and that his parents said something about it, but he was too young to remember what it was. The pod then spoke to the boy.

" _One day until arrival at destination_ ". The pod's automated voice was robotic, but feminine. It was probably made that way to soothe the infiltrator babies with a motherly voice. Suffice to say it wasn't working. Kakarrot could understand what the pod said to him and decided to go back to sleep, as he didn't want to stay awake a whole day just looking out at the void.

 _12 hours later_

Kakarrot was sleeping upright in his pod and slowly opened his eyes. He felt well rested after getting some real sleep instead of artificial stasis. He had spent about half of the day sleeping, but 12 hours was still a long time to wait. He peered out the glass window and still saw darkness. He wasn't going to go back to sleep, so he decided to spend the rest of his time looking at his mission briefing pictures. He was too young to understand everything about his mission, but he liked to look at the bright colors on the screen. He also passed his time by playing with the buttons in the pod. Luckily, his button pushing didn't mess with the pods trajectory because child pods were preprogrammed to autopilot towards the destination. Being only two years old (about to turn three), his attention span was easy to stimulate and the 12 hours passed by like nothing. Suddenly, something outside caught the boy's attention. Kakarrot looked out the glass and saw a large yellow star pass by. As he gazed at its bright glow, the pod suddenly spoke to alert him of the approaching landing.

" _Pod will be landing in 5 minutes, please brace for impact"._ Kakarrot understood this and decided to strap himself in with the seatbelt. The pod first passed by a small rocky planet and then a moderately sized planet blanketed by yellow gases. The blue planet came then came into view. It was mostly covered by water with a few pieces of green/brown land. The poles were covered in all white ice and there were white clouds swirling around the planet. The pod was shooting towards the globe as everything was coming into view. He could start making out the view of a forest, but for only a moment before he slammed into it. The pod tore through the landscape, destroying a grove of trees that were now reduced to charred trunks. Kakarrot was startled by the crash and sat still for a minute, not knowing what was going to happen next. Suddenly the pod hatch opened, making a hissing sound from the compression of the air. The boy unbuckled himself and peered his head out of the pod. He was sitting in a big crater and looked up to the blue sky. He cautiously crawled out of the pod and crater and as he came up the hole in the ground, he looked around to see nothing in the immediate area but charred trees and hot sand. A few feet in front of him was a lush jungle and he could see all the green brush, thick canopy of the towering trees, and the jutting bamboo stalks. He could hear bird calls and rushing water in the distance. His stomach then growled as he remembered how hungry and thirsty he was. He carefully walked to the direction of the watery noise, keeping his guard up in case there were any predators. As he walked through the jungle, he saw many different foreign plants and animals. Being from the arid Planet Vegeta made this place seem like the Garden of Eden to the impressionable boy, not that he knows what that garden is. There were vines growing in every direction and bushes with giant leaves providing shade to the area. The trees towered over everything, hosting all sorts of different animals, who were watching the young boy to see what he would do. Many little lizards were scampering by at the sight of this new potential predator, and many frogs hopped away as Kakarrot approached them. There was no use trying to catch the small prey as they were too fast, so he ignored them and kept on walking. Soon he reached the source of the running water noise and found a creek. He bent down and took big gulps of water and soon took his armor off to roll around in the water and take the first bath he's had in months. The boy swam around in the creek for a few minutes before getting out and shaking himself dry. He may have been clean and hydrated, but he was still very hungry and now cold from the water. The boy sat down and thought about the situation he was in. He thought back to the few times he was outside his pod and how his mother would cradle and feed him. As he sat by the creek bank, he started to get wet again, but this time only on his face. It had finally sunk in that he was alone and no one was here to help him. He began to softly cry, but it gradually turned into a wail. The tiny saiyan sat with his legs sprawled out and his hands at his side, balling his eyes out, wanting his mommy. He knew she wasn't here though and he now wished he never went on this stupid mission thing. As he was crying, a rustle in the nearby shrubbery was heard. Still teary eyed, Kakarrot shot a glance at the source of the noise. He could tell that whatever was making the noise was getting closer, as it was getting louder. Kakarrot just looked at the bush, fearfully anticipating a predator to jump out at him. Even though, he was a saiyan, he was still just a cub and didn't know how to defend himself properly. The noise got closer and the shrub leaves began to shake more violently. Kakarrot didn't know whether he was going to fight or flee, but he slowly got up, ready for either. The noise was right on top of him and he could make out a figure popping out of the bush. Suddenly an old man came out from the leaves, but Kakarrot was too scared to get a good look at him and just screamed, curled into a ball, and started crying again.

An old man was walking through the jungle and had heard crying earlier. He decided to investigate who or what was making the noise. As he rustled though the underbrush, he heard heavy breathing, possibly from an injured animal. The old man was expecting to either help the creature get better, or put it out of its misery and have it for dinner, and that depended on how injured the animal was. What he wasn't expecting was to see a naked little boy, curled up in a ball, crying his eyes out. The old man then approached the young lad, hoping he could speak and find out what was wrong.

"Why hello, little one! Are you lost? Where are your parents?"

Kakarrot stopped crying when he heard the creature speak to him. This whole time, he was waiting to be attacked and eaten, but it turned out he ran into one of those human things he was supposed to fight. The boy peered through the opening he made with his hand covered eyes, but quickly shut them out of fear. He started whimpering again, thinking the man was here to kill him so he couldn't go through with his mission. Kakarrot was surprised when he was suddenly picked up by the elderly human and cradled in his arms. The old man then began to speak.

"There-there child. No need to cry now. I'm not going to hurt you. How's about we walk around and see if we can find your mama and papa"? Kakarrot was confused about what he should do in this situation, but he decided to let the old man take him wherever he was going, in the chances that the place had food. The old man picked up the set of armor that was near the boy, deducing that it belonged to the lad and went off with him. They walked through the jungle for a couple minutes, with Kakarrot now on the man's back, who was now much more visible. He looked like a fragile thing. He wore a green cap, topped with a white puff ball, that covered his whole head. He was wrinkly and had a large white mustache, and similar looking eyebrows. He wore a black robe with white at the ends, and the robe was covered in an orange vest of some sorts which was patterned with golden rings. As they walked around hoping to find the boy's parents, the elder stumbled upon a charred tree. Thinking there was a fire, he continued the path of the burnt trunks, until it led him to a peculiar looking craft sitting in a crater. The old man went down to look at the sphere looking machine, but as he approached it, a voice suddenly spoke.

" _Foreign lifeform detected, scanning…Human identified. Activating Neural Aggression Wave."_

The old man was taken aback that the machine gave this odd command, and that it was in his language no less. As the man attempted to back away from the machine, he looked back to see the silhouette of the boy had jumped up in front of the sun. The kid charged down at the old man, but hit the ground as the geezer dodged his tackle. The boy looked back at the elder with a feral look on his face and was stance down like a dog. Kakarrot readied a pounce at the man, hoping to deal a fatal blow, but what he didn't know was that he was dealing with an experienced martial artist. Once the man landed onto the earth, Kakarrot darted at the man, aiming for his throat, but he was suddenly stopped as a chop hit him in the neck, knocking him out. The boy fell, but was caught by the old man. The geezer was puzzled to why the boy suddenly attacked and then remembered how that machine said something about an aggression wave. Deducing that the pod was the cause of the sudden outburst from the child, the old man charged up a ki blast and fired it right at the pod, leaving it a pile of scrap. The boy was now dozed off as he sat in the old man's arms. The elder was contemplating what to do with the child. As crazy as it sounded, the boy might be from outer space and may have been sent as an invader, judging from the pod's commands. He could kill the boy now and get rid of the problem before he turns into one, but looking at the child peacefully sleeping pulled on the geezer's heartstrings.

"Ah dammit, guess I'm too much of a sucker for kids. I guess it's safe to say your mom and dad aren't anywhere nearby. Let's go little one, I'm sure your plenty hungry.", said the old man with his raspy voice. The geezer carried the child back to his cottage that wasn't too far away. Along the way though, the man noticed the brown, furred monkey tail that the boy had attached to him, as the kid wrapped it around the elder's arm. He was taken aback by this, but soon got used to it. _Well he's supposedly an alien, so it makes sense he'd have an alien feature like that._ They soon approached small the cottage, and boy was it small. It was a single room hut with two circular, glass windows on each side. The roof looked like a spikey hat, tiled with blue shingles. The base of the house was made of red brick, and the walls made of white plaster. Two wooden cyan doors, gave entrance to the inside. The kitchen was a firepit outside the house and there was no outhouse. The old man was content with this though, as he never needed much and enjoyed not having many material possessions. The inside was even more pathetic. There was a single room where to the side of the right door was a canopy bed with a red covering. In front of the door was a small red table with a single white chair and past that was a black dresser which acted as a stand for this small yellow orb that sat on a purple pillow. There were a few lanterns and pots in the house and a red pole sat against the wall. The old man laid the boy onto the bed and started preparing some food he had gathered/hunted earlier in the day. After a few minutes, the boy had slowly opened his eyes from the smell of the food. He sat up and looked at the table that was full of food. There was fish, a plate of noodles with vegetables and finally, a delicious plate of steamed beef dumplings. Kakarrot starred at the steamy plates with his mouth dripping with drool. As he got up to stuff his face, he noticed the old man from earlier and stopped. He looked at the elder with suspicion and growled at him. The old man simply gave a nod that he wouldn't attack him, and the boy then proceeded to sit at the table. He was then stopped again as the elder held the boys armor in front of him. The geezer wasn't going to have the boy make a mess of himself and made him put on the strange armor he found with the lad. Kakarrot grunted since he didn't like the feel of the armor and preferred being as he was now, but he was hungry so he complied and put it back on. He sat at the table and sniffed the food before eating it, making sure it was edible to him and not poisoned. After a few seconds, he dug in and stuffed his face with as much of the food as he could. The old man was astonished that such a small child could have such a big appetite, but remembering that he might be an alien made him get used to it.

"My-my! You have quite the appetite for a child. It seems you haven't been taught any manners though. You're also quite strong for a young one like yourself. If I weren't a martial arts master, you could've been quite a lot of trouble for me back there.", said the old man. The boy just kept stuffing his face though, oblivious to the elder. The geezer then remembered the sudden burst of strength he felt from the boy and that he couldn't just let him roam around, knowing he could seriously hurt someone or worse. The geezer knew that he was strong enough to handle the boy and that maybe he could help him control his power and aggression. It was decided then and there that he would try to raise this child as his own. The man had never had any children of his own, but he felt as though he could do the job well enough. It was also getting a little lonely around the forest and it would be nice to have someone to pass down his martial arts techniques to.

"I don't know where you came from, but you shouldn't have to be by yourself, little one. How would you like to stay here with me then? There's plenty of food to eat and a warm bed for you to sleep in. I noticed you've got quite the fire in your belly, I could help you to get stronger. How does that sound?", asked the geezer. Kakarrot looked at the man and starred at him for a minute, seriously considering this offer. He then remembered his father saying something about needing to get stronger, so he gave a slight nod and then dug back into the plates. The old man smiled as he watched the tiny child accept his offer.

"Oh, I'm, so glad you agree. It will be nice to have some company for a change. By the way young lad, what is your name?", asked the old man. Kakarrot suddenly stopped eating as he thought about that question. While he was smart for a child, he still was only about three and he couldn't remember a lot of things, like his name. He sat trying to remember it, but it was quite the word jumble for such a young saiyan. The only things he could remember were that it started with a 'k' sound. He let out a few mumbles saying "k..ka…k", but it was just too hard for him and he gave up. He looked down in sadness that he couldn't even remember his own name. The old man could sense this and decided to try and cheer the boy up.

"That's ok son, I'll give you a new one", he then pondered on an appropriate name. _Hmm, Clark? No too stiff sounding. What about Wukong? No, that one doesn't sound good either._ The perfect name then suddenly came to him, to which he looked at the boy with a small smile.

"How about Goku? Do you like that name?", asked the old man. Kakarrot thought about this for a second and liked the sound of it, which was apparent as his tailed flicked back and forth with a smile.

"Great! Then from now on you're Goku, Son Goku. And you can call me your Grandpa Gohan!", said Gohan with a smile as he picked the boy up.

Gohan the looked down at the table and noticed that the plates of food were devoured and then heard a grumble from Goku's stomach. _Seems the boy has quite the appetite_ , he thought as he gave a small chuckle. Gohan still had some food left and he hadn't eaten yet either, so he decided to make some more food for them to both eat.

In Goku's mind, he only saw Gohan as a target, since the machine had awakened his aggressive pat of the brain, which urged him to attack the natives. He could have just tried to kill the man right then and there, but Goku was a strategist; something he picked up from his father. He was going to stay at this old man's place and get a feeling for how powerful the natives were, as well as be provided food and a warm bed. The boy gave a bland look as he was picked up and gave a small smile, but only because he was proud of the plane he thought of. Goku was quite smart for a saiyan child, something he got from his mother, so he had a sense of pride in his intelligence. He was still only a child though, which made him ignorant to many things and forgetful with other things, such as his name. Yes, if everything goes how he wants it to, by the end of the month, he should be able to beat this human called Gohan.

* * *

For the next few weeks, the pair formed a routine. It started with them getting up, dressing into their clothes (Goku no longer had to wear his armor and was given loin cloths instead), and Goku trying to go outside, but Gohan wouldn't allow him to go alone. This caused there to be a fight between the two every morning, with Gohan always coming out on top. Goku would squirm and try to attack Gohan, but the old man was too experienced and the boy was not as strong as he thought. After Goku had calmed down, they would both have a quick breakfast and go into the forest. Grandpa Gohan would put Goku in this basket on his back as they walked around to make sure that the boy didn't wander off. The boy had to be strapped in though, as he was angsty tried to escape at every attempt he had. Every day they went somewhere different in the forest. Sometimes they would go to the river nearby, sometimes into the thick of the jungle, to the creek where Goku was found, to the waterfall, and many more places. They once went to the pod site, but Goku became extra aggressive when they went near, so Gohan stopped going around there. When they went into the jungle, they would go to hunt for dinner, bringing back whatever plants/animals they could find. Sometimes Gohan would let Goku out of the basket and hunt as well. Those were the times Goku felt most alive as his fighting instincts could run free. Gohan was quite shocked at the level of predatory aggression the boy hunted with, but it also impressed him that he could do it without any tools or weapons at all. Many times, while the pair walked through nature, Gohan would point to objects and say their names, trying to teach Goku how to speak. His level of speech was fine as he could talk in sentences, but he stayed quite most of the time and still needed to expand his vocab. The boy had begun picking up on it and would repeat what the old man was saying. Gohan would point to a tree and Goku could tell him that it was a tree, that a rock was a rock, and so on. Once they had caught a meal, they would head back to the cottage and cook up the animals for dinner. Gohan had a small rice farm, so he was able to make rice dough to cook noodles and dumplings. As the food cooked, they would do light training like dodging and simple punches and kicks. During this time, Goku would try and find out the best ways to attack the man and possible strategies for humans in general, but he could never pick up on any specific weaknesses. After the food was done, Gohan would set the table up and they would dig in and eat. It was then time for bed to which Gohan would invite Goku to come to sleep, but Goku would crawl to the opposite side of the bed, making sure to not get attached to his target. Gohan was saddened by this, but understood that he was still somewhat of a stranger to the kid and gave him his space.

One day, this all changed, as the pair walked by the ravine path to the water fall. Goku was squirming around in the basket, when he noticed a loose end in the strap. He then wiggled his way out of the strap trying to take advantage of this opportunity to attack, but he was too rambunctious and fell out of the basket into the ravine. Goku took a nose dive into the ravine and thinking he might die from the fall, had shut his eyes, screamed, and cried. Just as he fell, though, he felt a hand on his foot. He opened his eyes to see the ravine below him and then looked up to his foot and saw a hand on it. Attached to this hand was Grandpa Gohan, who had caught him just in time. Gohan let out a sigh and pulled Goku back up. He held the boy his arms with the kid's feet and tail dangling.

"Goku, how many times have I told you to sit still? You're lucky I caught you in time. Who knows what could have happened if you fell down there.", said Gohan with worried look and tone. Goku just stayed still starring at the man who just saved him, the man who he had been planning to possibly kill, the man who he had been troubling for the last month, the man who took him in when he knew nothing about what kind of monster he was. This human saved him, even though he wasn't his actual grandson. Gohan simple gave Goku a little pat on his palm tree shaped hair and put him back in the basket telling him to stay still from now on. Goku did this, but more so because wasn't in the mood to attack as he had a lot on his mind. They soon reached the waterfall where Gohan caught a large fish for them to have for dinner later. Goku just sat and watched Gohan do his things, thinking about how this man is providing food for him when there is no benefit to him doing this. They then walked back to the hut and to Gohan's surprise, Goku was quiet the whole way. They cooked the fish, but skipped out on their usual sparring. Goku was distraught that night and ate very little. Gohan was concerned about this and spoke up to ask the boy about it.

"Is something wrong with food, Goku"? Goku just sat and starred at his plate that only had half of it cleaned off. He didn't know what to say to the man and just kept staring with a sad look on his face. "Did the fall from earlier today scare you son?", asked Gohan, thinking that could be the only other thing bothering the boy.

Goku kept staring at his food, but decided to give an answer. "No", he said softly which was then followed by a long silence, but then continued. "Not exactly", he said.

"Well then what's wrong Goku, you can tell me. I won't get upset with you.", replied Gohan, thinking it was something the boy was afraid to share. Goku then looked up and with a sad but curious face asked Gohan a heavy question.

"Why did you save me from falling"? Gohan was shocked by this question and was sad that the boy thought he saw no value to his life.

"Because you're my grandson, that's why.", said Gohan hoping to reassure the lad. Goku then dropped another truth bomb on the old man, albeit not trying to hurt his feelings, just genuinely being honest.

"But I'm not really your grandson.", replied the boy with a bit of a dead tone as he looked away from Gohan. The old man was hurt by this, as he had been trying to bond with this boy. There were a few times where Gohan thought to bring the boy back where he found him, but decided against it as he was growing attached to Goku. To hear that Goku didn't feel the same really damaged him. He decided to reply anyway, hoping to get his feelings across.

"No, you're not, but I treat you just as if you were. I like being your grandpa, do you not like me as your grandpa though?", asked the old man, hoping to get this over with and just bring the boy back. He obviously didn't want to be here, but he wanted it to be Goku's choice, as he seemed smart enough to make this decision. What the boy said next though left Gohan in shock.

"It's not that, but I'm not a good grandson. I always fight with you, and act mean, and don't listen." Goku was looking at the ground and starting to tear up a little bit as he continued. "I'm not yur real family, so why did you save me? I'm not nice, so it doesn't make sense that you still want me.", finished Goku, who was now tearing and giving small sniffles. Gohan was surprised the child had such a grasp on the situation he was in, but knowing he was still a child decided to comfort him instead of trying to rationalize with him.

"Now who says you have to be related to be family? I don't know about you, but I consider you to be family even if we aren't related." Goku looked up across the table straight at his grandpa's eyes, with pure confusion as to why he would say something like this. Gohan then continued, "You're a very special boy Goku, and while it's true that you are rambunctious a from time to time, I know there is good in you. You're still my grandson and always will be. That's the commitment I made to myself when I decide to adopt you."

Goku then started to cry because he still though that Gohan was wrong to want him, to which he then explained why. "But..but, I'm not a good boy. I always want to fight and kill everything and I don't know why! I kinda remember what I came here do to and I think it's something…...bad. I'm bad and you shouldn't be around me!".

Gohan simply got up from the table and went over to Goku. Goku was still crying but was in a defensive position, thinking that Grandpa Gohan realized what he was saying and was ready to attack. Goku was surprised when Gohan pulled Goku into a hug.

"Now who put a crazy idea like that in your head? I don't care if you're the son of the devil himself, you get to choose if you want to be good or bad. Now what do you want to be son?", asked the geezer. Goku looked up to his grandpa and started to cry even more a s he strained to get his words out.

"I…I wanna be nice like you! I don't want to feel these feelings to hurt you or other peoples! I'm sorry for being bad grandpa, I'm sorry!" He curled into Gohan and cried his eyes out. Gohan simply started stroking the boy's hair to calm him down.

"There-there Goku. I don't know why you feel this way, but we'll work on making it go away. I said you're my grandson no matter what and I meant that." Goku looked up to his grandpa and cried again, but this time trying to wipe away the tears. After a few minutes, Goku had calmed down and they readied for bed. Goku had decided to curl up near his grandpa, finally feeling like he belonged.

* * *

All was finally peaceful in the mountains until there was a large explosion later in the night. Grandpa Gohan had been fast asleep, until the large boom woke him up. He woke up to find that Goku wasn't in bed and assumed the worst. He ran outside to see that a giant tailed gorilla was rampaging through the jungle. Gohan was worried thinking that the monster might have attacked or killed the boy. He charged up a ki blast to try and end the beast. The ape noticed the blast coming and moved out of the way, but not quickly enough as the creatures tail was blasted clean off. The ape let out a loud growl and slowly began to shrink in size until is disappeared out of the night sky, leaving only the full moon in its place. Gohan ran over to where he saw the monster shrink and in its was Goku, naked and unconscious in the dirt. Gohan was petrified to think that the boy had the potential to transform into such a creature. He wondered what caused this as this was the first time Goku had ever done something like this. He knew it was caused by the tail as when it burnt off, Goku turned back, but what triggered the tail to activate? The only thing he noticed was different about tonight was that it was a full moon. This means that Goku is some kind of weird alien werewolf. Gohan stood over Goku's naked body. He had a choice to make, he could kill the boy now or spare his life. He knew the repercussions of allowing someone so dangerous to exist, but he then remembered what he had told the boy earlier. _I made a promise dammit, and I'm going to keep it._ Gohan picked up Goku's limp body and carried him back to the hut. He laid him down in the bed and let the boy sleep, but he stayed up the rest of the night, starring at the moonlight, wondering what kind of future he had just sealed for himself. Morning soon came and with the rise of the sun, the animals and people also rose from their slumber. Goku was one of those people and slowly opened his eyes. He felt super drained of energy and needed a large meal to satiate his shunger. Surprisingly though, he found his grandpa had already made some breakfast as he saw it sprawled on the table.

"*Sniff sniff*, Mmmm, that smells great grandpa. Why did you get up so early to make all of this?", asked Goku. Gohan was very tired from cooking and gave yawn before he answered.

"*Yaaawwwwn*, well…I didn't get much sleep after what happened last night so I stayed up and decide to make some breakfast.". As Goku was stuffing his face, he looked to his grandpa with a strange look?

"What happened last night?", asked Goku. Gohan then realized that Goku must have not remembered anything. He decided to keep it a secret from the boy, as he just finished fighting his demons and didn't need new ones to deal with. He needed to tell Goku in someway about what happened, so he decided to tell him everything, but leave out that he was the monster.

"Well…that, uh…", he struggled to make an excise until it hit him, "That blasted Great Ape came around here again and blasted up a bunch of the forest!", said Grandpa Gohan, with a sweaty brow, hoping that Goku would buy the story.

"Huh?! A great ape? What is that?!", asked a perplexed but excited Goku.

"The Great Ape is this giant tailed ape that appears during a full moon. It's very powerful, so you should never go outside during the full moon, understand"? Goku then gave a nod of approval, but he secretly wished he could've seen the animal to test how string it was, but Goku then composed himself, knowing that a fight could lead to those bad thoughts showing up again. He was then going to go and grab a biscuit with his tail until he noticed something that should have been obvious the minute he woke up. He looked to his rear and screamed out in shock.

"Ahhhhh! My tail is gone, grandpa my tail is gone!", yelled the little boy with fear and tear in eye. Gohan was hoping Goku wouldn't notice the missing tail, but should've known better. It's the same as if he lost and arm, even if you didn't notice at first, it's impossible to ignore. Gohan had to think of something fast as to why his tail was missing and he decide to tell him the truth..well partially.

"Oh yes, about that. I'm sorry to say that you're tail got pulled off yesterday. I'm surprised you don't remember. You had snuck out last night and the Great Ape had attacked you, that's why I left the hut in the first place. When I got to you, it seems it had pulled off your tail and knocked you out. That's why you need to stay indoors at night from now on.". Goku seemed to by this but became mad at hearing this.

"I'm gonna get that ape! Let's see how he likes me pulling his tail! Only good thing is that mine grows back, cuz I feel it near my butt.", to which he then turned around and wiggled the little stub above his rear. Gohan had noticed this before he made breakfast, which ruled out tail loss as a permanent solution to the transformation problem. In the end he was glad, as the tail was probably important to the child for other things. Gohan then responded to Goku.

"Now-now, let's not get hasty, Goku. I already told you it's too strong for you to handle, but if we train then maybe one day you can fight it." He was obviously lying, but if he let the boy think he could fight it someday, he could ignore it for now. We need to work on controlling your rage first, remember?"

"I remember", replied Goku in an annoyed child's tone. He then perked up and went to give his grandpa a hug. "Grandpa, thanks again for taking me in." Gohan gave a small smile and rubbed the boy on the head, who sat and smiled in response.

"It's my pleasure Goku, now how about we finish breakfast so we can get started"? The two gulfed down their food and ran outside. Both crouched into a fighting position with Gohan's being more attune to a martial art pose, while Goku crouched down like a dog ready to pounce.

"Are you sure that's the best stance to be in son? We might have to work on your fighting form.", asked Gohan with a smile and raised eyebrow.

"I don't know, I guess were gonna see.", replied Goku with a smile and furrowed brow. The two then dashed forward and were stopped by their first clash. They continued for hours, backdropped by the setting sun.

From here on out, Goku and his grandpa formed a new routine, much the same as before, but now Goku liked going with his grandpa and the only time they fought was during training. Over the years, Gohan had made good on his promise and trained Goku to show restraint in battle. He had thought of just helping the boy to not fight at all, but after a few days, it was obvious the boy could not bear without it. Goku now donned a blue gi, sashed with a black belt and a white undershirt. Gohan had hid his armor away, so the boy wouldn't get triggers of his past. Once the boy got dressed into his gi, they would begin training. Gohan would have Goku to sit and meditate for hours on end. It was tough in the beginning, as the boy was always itching to jump into combat or hunt animals nearby, but overtime he learned to control it and didn't even feel his violent tendencies most of the time. The pair became closer as time passed, with Goku constantly asking questions about his life or life in general. He learned how Gohan was an expert in marital arts and how once Goku controlled his urges, he would teach him all his techniques. Goku lit up at this, imagining himself in the future being able to do all the cool attacks his grandpa does. Goku asked other questions and learned about the faraway places like the frigid north, the arid deserts, the murky swamps, and the bustling city. Goku was most interested about the city and from his inquires learned about the cars and giant skyscrapers that littered the districts, and how there were people from all around the world who lived there.

One-day, Goku even asked about where he came from. It had been many years and the boy seemed to have forgotten mostly about his mission, with only blurry memories of his life on his home planet. Gohan wasn't sure what he meant by this and started accidentally telling him about the birds and the bees. Gohan was someone who didn't get very flustered about things like that and he felt Goku was old enough that he could know. Goku had listened to his grandpa explain that 'when a boy and a girl get together', but interrupted him halfway when he said that's not what he meant. While the boy didn't how it was they did it, he knew that children came from their parents. He would ask about that another time, because what he wanted to know is how Gohan found him. Gohan was reluctant to tell the boy of his origins, thinking it might bring up bad memories or retrigger his aggression, so all he told him was that Goku came out of the sky one day in a metal ball. Goku thought this was cool, but didn't press further on. While Goku wanted to know where him and his real family were from, he stopped caring about it as time passed. He assumed if they wanted him, then they would have come for him by now. Goku had become quite the little gentleman and warrior, and each day was better than the last. Yes, things were going great for the Son family, until one night.

* * *

 _6 years later_

It had been many years since Kakarrot first landed on earth and became Goku. Being only three at the time, he has completely forgotten his Saiyan heritage, albeit a few foggy memories of his parents and who he thinks might be his brother. He finally could restrain his violent urges and was now quite skilled in marital art combat. Gohan had then decide that he was ready to be trained using his magic extending power pole. Goku was a little bored with it at first, but when he saw what it could do, he was in awe. Gohan also educated the boy, to the best of his ability mind you. While Goku wasn't a bookworm, he was quite the strategist and always found a way to get out of situations. Gohan noticed this when they sparred, as Gohan would think he'd cornered Goku, but the boy would then wriggle his way out and counter him. He was also insanely strong. The boy could break trees with his bare fists and leap to incredible heights. Goku didn't think much of it as his grandpa could do similar stunts, but was always told how it was incredible that he could do it at such a young age. Goku, not being one to brag, as instilled by his grandpa, said that he was sure there were plenty of other kids just as strong or stronger then him. It made the old martial artist proud to see what a prodigy of a grandson he had and that he took on the values he raised him to have. It was around bed time that things went awry.

The two had put their pajamas on and were getting ready to sleep, but tonight was different. It was a full moon, so Gohan had to board up the windows and lock the door. Goku knew that the great ape monster came out on full moons and he had asked his grandpa many times if he could go and fight it. Every time, Gohan said no and that he wasn't strong enough to take on the beast. Goku would always pout at this, but knew better then to argue with his grandpa. After all the precautions were finished, Gohan laid down and Goku soon followed, resting his head on Gohan's…scrotum. While most would find this disturbing and call the cops, Gohan knew he would never do anything like that to the boy. He even told him the first time that he should use a pillow, but Goku was too oblivious to do so and Gohan just gave up and let the boy do as he pleased. Gohan would be concerned too if he heard of someone else doing this, but eventually just dropped it. The pair had finally gone to sleep, when a noise suddenly was heard outside. Goku didn't know it, but being a saiyan gave him much stronger senses, so only he heard the noise. Goku got up to see what it was, but then tried to go back to sleep worried it might be the great ape. When he thought of this though, excitement sprawled his entire body and he couldn't sit still. He got up quietly as not to wake up his grandpa, and tiptoed over to his power pole. He put it on his back and went to grab the door key. He slowly unlocked and opened the door, trying to avoid creaking noises when he made one and almost woke Gohan up. He made it out the door and slowly closed it as he looked around for the monster. He scanned the area for a couple seconds and was about to look up at the night sky, until a rustling in the bushes was heard. Goku darted his eyes in its direction and snuck his way over. He got on all fours to try and be as quiet as possible. While his grandpa told him that he should walk upright like a normal boy, he liked to crawl when he hunted, which made stalking easier. Goku had paced his way to the shrub and just as he was about to reach in, a black figure dashed out of it. Goku let his instincts take over and chased after the shadow. He had gotten on his two feet and ran through the jungle. The figure was only a few feet in front of him, dodging by roots and shrubs to not lose speed. Goku did the same and was able to chase it into a corner. Slowly walking up to it, he tried to make out what the creature was. He saw a tail like his and thought it was the monster. He tried to talk to it to initiate combat.

"Hey, monkey monster, I wanna fight you!", yelled Goku. He took his power pole out and held it like a spear towards the shadowy form. As he was about to strike, the light of the full moon shone on the area and revealed the figure to be a regular old monkey. Goku pouted that it wasn't the beast, but he put his pole away to let the creature go. Now that there was light, he could see that the monkey had some of the pork that they ate for dinner. Sometimes he and Gohan would forget to put away the food from outside and the animals would come and take the scraps. They had gone out to investigate noises before when they forgot the food, but not on full moon nights, as they didn't want to attract the monster and always made sure to leave no leftovers outside. It seems they slipped up and had left some of their pork at the fire pit. Goku saw the look of terror on the little macaque and sighed. He motioned to the primate that he was free to go, as Goku wasn't hungry right now and saw no need to kill it. The monkey hesitated for a minute, constantly glancing back and forth between Goku and its exit, but then darted for the jungle, leaving only footprints. Goku was disappointed that he didn't find the great ape, but decide that it was for the best, thinking maybe he wasn't ready after all. He began walking back to the hut, but stopped.

He didn't notice it before but it was quite beautiful out that night. Everything was lit up in a blue hue with specks of white reflection of the dewdrops. He could hear the crickets and frogs chirping, the hoots of the owls, and the flickers of fireflies. He rather liked this peacefulness and wondered why he never tried coming out in the first place. He hadn't even heard or smelled any other apes the entire time he was out here. Maybe the monster had moved away after all these years, or his grandpa imagined it. He was near the creek where he was found and looked at the moons reflections shimmering on the water. He then looked up at the full moon. He never got to see it before and boy was his first sight gorgeous. He looked at the large white sphere that hung up in the sky, as it sprinkled its silvery glow across the landscape. Goku had never seen something so amazing, he could stop staring at it. Something drew him into the full moon, but he didn't know what. Goku kept looking at the moon, stuck in a strange trance, and then he felt it. His head was starting to feel heavy and his body began to ache. His eyes felt like they were going to bulge out of their sockets as he felt himself grown in pain. His chest bumped in and out in extreme contractions. He could feel hair growing and his teeth sharpen as his tail violently flicked around. His mouth began to expand and his vision began blurring a blood red. As he felt all this he screamed out in pain, but it came out more as a roar. Soon, his consciousness faded away, and in its place, was primal fury. A loud roar sounded throughout the jungle, causing Gohan's eyes to jut open. He looked down to see that Goku wasn't in bed and the door was unlocked. Gohan's face was painted with pure dread as he muttered out a single phrase.

"Oh no". Gohan got up and bolted out the door, it was dark, but the full moon light up enough that he could make out objects clearly. He looked around in the night sky hoping to find Goku, and unfortunately, he did. There right by the moon to the left of the house was a giant ape wreaking havoc and smashing everything in its path. Gohan sweated as he was unsure if he wanted to try and stop Goku or just let him thrash until the night was over. He wasn't sure of he'd be able to hit is tail again, as the last time was a lucky shot. He was just about to leave the boy be, until he saw what direction he was going in. While it was a decently long journey for him, there was a village not too far off in the direction Goku was going in. While at his normal size and normal walking pace, it would take a day or two to get there, being a giant made the trip much shorter. Gohan knew that he had to either stop Goku or redirect him. The old man dashed off, using his skill to bounce from tree to tree to cover as much ground as possible. He caught up to the beast and tried to get its attention by yelling over to it. Gohan was too small to get Goku's notice, so he decided to fire a small Ki blast at the creature's face. Suffice to say, Goku noticed and looked in the direction the blast came from.

Everything looked red to him expect when something had high enough ki, like an animal or sentient being, to appear as bright yellow. He looked at the tops of the trees and saw a yellow figure shaped like a man standing there. The ape became enraged and fired a mouth blast at the old man. Luckily, Gohan dodged it and started to lead Goku back towards the hut. His plan was working as Goku roared and tried to charge at him, but kept missing as he moved away from the village. Gohan had finally gotten Goku back to the area around their house. Gohan then ducked through the trees to hide himself from Goku. The ape boy caught up to where Gohan was, but looked baffled as he lost his target. Gohan assumed that the boy would just continue to thrash about until the night was over and he would make sure he only stayed in this area. He had done just that for the entire night and it was almost morning as the moon was close to the horizon and the blue sky began turning a brighter hue. The beast had been tired out from chasing Gohan all night and had calmed down somewhat, but Gohan was exhausted as well. He assumed that the boy would be fine until the sun came up and he headed home, to wait for Goku to untransform. He dragged himself through the jungle and came to the open are where their cottage was, but now that he was in the open, Goku had spotted him. Charging after the old man, Gohan looked up to see the ape running for him. Gohan wasn't sure if he had enough energy to dodge the monster and tried to run. Luckily, he noticed the moon had finally set and the boy began to shrink. Gohan was relieved, but only for a moment as the boy was shrinking fast enough. Gohan had no strength left to run and instead got into a fighting stance. Goku ran up the old man and tried to plant his foot on him, but was partially stopped as he felt a burning on his sole. He lifted his foot up to see that a ki blast had been fired at it, as a last-ditch attempt to cushion the impact. Safe to say it worked for Gohan, but not to the extent he would have liked. Many of Gohan's bones were crushed and a few internal organs had been popped. Blood pooled around him and he felt cold. A few feet away, a little naked boy was lying on his stomach, all bruised and battered from the fall. He began to come to, not remembering what happened last night. He slowly got up and looked around and saw devastation. The monster must have come through last night and destroyed everything. He was glad that he didn't get hurt or killed and would have to go back and apologize to his grandpa for not listening. He noticed he was naked, but he had extra gi at the house. He went back to where he last remembered being and grabbed his power pole, which was in large ditch (little did he know this ditch was his giant foot print). He was surprised the creek area wasn't that damaged with only a few snapped trees as evidence the monster was here. He trekked back to the hut, but stopped as he heard a groan coming from another large ditch. He ran over to see what poor creature had been attacked by the beast, but suddenly dropped everything and ran down the hole as he saw who was in it. His grandpa was disfigured and sitting I a pool of his blood. Goku was petrified that the monster hurt him so badly, he was horrified at the damage that was done. He bagen to ball his eyes out as he tried to speak to Gohan.

"GRANDPA, GRANDPA, WHAT HAPPENED, HOW DID YOU GET LIKE THIS!?", screamed the little boy as his face flooded with tears. Gohan limply replied.

"I..I came to make sure you were safe, since..*gasp*..I noticed you leave the hut." , Said Gohan, struggling to breath let alone talk. Goku squinted his eyes at hearing this knowing it was his fault for going outside and now his grandpa was going to die.

"*sob*I..I'm sorry grandpa, I.. 've . you! I'm…I gonna make you better. I shouldn't have left to fight the monster, I promise I won't fight anymore! I'll be good and listen to everything you say and". Goku was then interrupted as Gohan limply brought his hand up to his cheek. Gohan just held the boy's face and warmly smiled. He then struggled to get out his final words, with gasps and wheezes interrupting.

" Goku..*gasp*..you don't..*wheexe*..need to stop fighting. Its…its in your..blood. This..this is my fault. *Gasp*, I shouldv'e known..*wheeze*..better than to keep you from a battle.", he said with teary eyes. Goku just looked at him and held the hand on his cheek, as he mumbled out "Grandpa, I'm", but he was stopped again. Gohan let out his final requests to the boy.

"Goku..*gasp*..can you promise me something"? Goku nodded with water still falling from his eyes and his face scrunched up. "Don't..don't forget who you are. Continue..*wheeze*..to get stronger, but..but don't let anger be your guide. There's other ways..*coughing up blood*..to settle problems..than with fists. Can you promise me..promise me you'll only fight to kill if you have to?"? Goku then rubbed up against Gohan's hand. "Yes grandpa, I promise.", he barely muttered out.

"Good Goku…I'm glad. Take care of yourself, and I'll see you in otherworld….". Gohan's eyes then closed. His head tilted towards the ground and his hand fell from Goku's face. Goku then had a look of horror plastered on his face. He tried shaking his grandpa and yelling at him to wake him up, but nothing worked. "No…Grandpa….Granpda Gohan….GRANDPA GOHAAAAAAAAN!", he screamed as he looked up to the sky, tears falling to his side. He then fell to the floor and cried for hours on end.

Finally, Goku had stopped crying and had gathered up a bunch of dirt, which he buried his grandpa in. He put up a little stick with a white flower as a sign of memorial. He walked home, his eyes red and sniffles still coming from his nose. He went inside, put the power pole away, and looked at the house interior. He was now all alone in this little cottage. No longer would he wake up to breakfast made for him, or to taking trips through the woods on the hunt, or sparring after they ate dinner, and no more laying with his grandpa and asking him about his stories of the past or the mysteries of the universe. It was just him now, and it would be like that forever.

He wasn't hungry anymore and just stayed in bed, to sullen to get up. Eventually his appetite got the better of him and he went out to hunt. He had begun hesitating making the kills when he hunted. He was thinking about the promise he made and how the animal was going to die like his grandpa, but he eventually got over it as he needed to eat and the vegetable weren't enough for him. He would usually apologize to the animal corpse would feel sad. Dinners were quiet now. While he still ate the same quantity as before, he didn't scarf to down as there was no need to rush to get started on training anymore.

Goku had stopped training for about a month, but it eventually started to bother him and he started it once again. Over the month he had gained a drive to get stronger. He was going to find that monster and kill it for what it did to his grandpa. Goku spent all of his training, improving on his skills as there were no new ones to learn. He became quite adept with his power pole and his attack forms improved over the years, but he still had no idea how to use ki, as his grandpa didn't get to training him with that. Goku stayed inside at night and blockaded the windows during the full moon, as he knew he wasn't strong enough to take on the beast yet. Goku had been fueled by rage at first, but respected his grandpas wish and changed his attitude. Goku had always liked fighting and was now training more to self-improve than to beat the monster. Granted, he was still going to do that, but it was no longer a priority.

Many days Goku would take breaks to just sit and watch nature. It calmed him and cheered up his mood. He would think about what his grandpa was doing right now, as he said he was going to otherworld. Goku had doubts from time to time if it was real or not, but he had no reason to believe it wasn't. He would also look to the sky and think about where he came from. Having lost the only family he's ever had made him think if he should try to find his real one. He would usually disregard it, but he did wonder nonetheless. A few years had passed and Goku had finally gotten over his grandpa's death. He knew he wouldn't want him to sulk around for the rest of his life, and that he should become strong like him. He was going to train to become the strongest in the world so his grandpa would be proud of him and hopefully forgive him. Yes, Goku now had his sights set of being the world champion, and he wasn't going to let anyone stop him, or so he thought when one day he met a strange blue haired girl.

* * *

 **Welp, here you go guys. Were finally gonna see how Goku not hitting his head will affect the story. Next chapter will be the official beginning of the DB series. Sorry this one took me a while to come out with. Once again, don't expect the next chapter to be coming out anytime soon, but I'll try not to make it a super long wait. Rate and review and** **I'll see you next time!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Sorry this took so long. I know the waits are long and I thank you all for being patient, but writing this much depth does take time. Do you guys want me to continue making long chapters that are content heavy or the opposite? I'm essentially asking if you want quantity vs quality. There are pros and cons to both, so I'll start writing whichever you guys want more.**

 **Chapter 5**

 **Adventure Begins!**

* * *

It was the beginning of summer break for all the high school students at Senior High School. One student decided she wanted to go out and travel the country. She had found a strange orange ball in her basement and after doing some research, found out they were connected to the legend of the dragon god Sheron, who would grant a single wish when all 7 of the orange orbs were gathered. She herself wasn't sure if the legend was true, but she was looking for any excuse to get out of the house and live her life. Using her mechanical skills, she created a radar that would be able to track the other 6 orbs. After gaining permission from her parents, she set of on her journey. A couple months ago, her and her family had visited an old family friend on his island. After their visit, she headed north when her radar picked up a signal and she found a second orb in a cave. She then decided to travel the world in search of the other five and that is where we find her now. The blunette had raced off once her break began. Her radar had picked up a signal in the direction of Mount Paozu, so that is where she headed. Cruising in her little car, she zoomed through the country side with the wind in her braided hair. The breeze was especially nice this fine September day and the sun was shining brightly. She drove on, unaware of what was in the road.

Earlier in the morning, Goku had gotten himself dressed and ventured out into the jungle, but not before bowing to the strange orange ball his grandpa had left him. This was the only thing besides his power pole that Gohan had left behind after his death, so Goku cherished it deeply. After finding the thick of the woods, he got into a fighting stance and leapt towards the trees and chopped one down with kicks to the trunk. The tree timbered and Goku then carried the log back to his hut. When he arrived, he laid the logs down and stilled himself for a moment. Suddenly, he focused in on the logs and with a mighty yell, karate chopped them into smaller wood chunks ready to be thrown in a fire. When he was done he smiled at his pile and decided it was time to go out and find something to eat for the day. That week, he had eaten a lot of different land mammals that came and invaded his hut area. He was sick of land meat and was set on having some fish for a change. The boy grabbed an apple from a tree as a snack and the wandered over to the waterfall, as he knew that a lot of fish hung out near the bottom of it. Goku then threw of his clothes and found a rock to perch on. He dipped his tail in the water as a sort of fishing line, but he had to be careful that nothing bit it, or he would become severely weak. After a few minutes, a large blue fish had swum by the tail. Thinking it belonged to a monkey or cat, it decided to try and drag the creature in. Racing for the appendage, the fish leapt towards it ready to chomp down, but the owner of the tail could feel the vibrations in the water and pulled it out last second. The fish couldn't slowdown in time and leapt out of the water, exposing itself. The fish was expecting to simply plop back into the water, but suddenly it was kicked before it did. Goku had kicked it so hard that the fish was dead on impact, leaving the lad with a fresh meal ready to go in the pit. He swam down to where the fish fell and pulled it out of the water. After getting dressed, Goku dragged his catch back and and about how he was going to have fish for lunch. He was just about home, when suddenly, his keen hearing picked up a strange rumbling noise off in the distance. He looked in the noises direction and saw a cloud of dust rising into the air. He squinted at it, trying to get a closer look, thinking that maybe a herd of deer was running from a predator. What he actually saw astonished him, it was a giant bug, or at least that's the closest thing it reminded him of. It looked like it had a hard exoskeleton and didn't seem to have legs as he saw none sprawled out from its body. What he didn't know was that it was actually a car, who's driver was going so fast that she didn't see the boy and couldn't stop in time. The car slammed into Goku and knocked him and his catch into a tree. After coming out of his daze, Goku looked to the beast that just assaulted him. Even though he promised not to try and solve things with violence, the monster attacked him first, meaning this was just self-defense. Goku was pretty mad and yelled at the supposed insect.

"Grr. Stupid beetle. You thought, you'd hit me and run away with my fish?", asked the boy. The girl who was driving the car suddenly realized she'd hit a kid. Just as she was about to open the door to see if he was ok, the car was lifted into the air.

"Gah! . what the heck is going on?!", the girl stammered. What she didn't know was the at the boy she just shot had lifted the car up and was about to throw it.

"Guh…this is for hitting me, you stupid bug!", to which he then tossed the car and landed on its side. The girl was shocked and saw the boy scowling at her. "That was your warning beetle, get out of here before you regret it!", shouted the boy. The girl was still reluctant to come out but peered herself out of the car window. Goku saw the figure pop out and got into a fighting stance, thinking it was the beetle coming out of its shell to fight. "Not gonna listen huh?", said Goku, "what, are you all out of tricks?" The girl wasn't sitting as a damsel in distress though, as she had brought a means of protection for herself. The reason she cautioned herself out of the car was so the boy wouldn't notice her loading her gun. Once it was though, she emerged from the car and pointed it at the young lad.

"Not yet, you little punk!", to which she proceeded to fire multiple bullets at the boy. While she was reluctant to shoot a kid, he had displayed some massive straight and she assumed he was some sort of monster. She had fired a few rounds and stopped after about a second. She saw the boy's body collapse to the ground and assumed she had killed him, but was terrified when she saw it get back up. "H. are you alive kid?", she shakily asked.

The boy rubbed his forehead and scowled back at his attacker. "Oww! So you thought that since your shell was too weak, you'd spit rocks at me huh? Well it'll take more than that to beat me monster!" He got his power pole out and was about to strike until the girl shrieked at him, grabbing his attention.

"Ahhh, hold on kid! I'm not a monster, I'm a human just like you! ' _Or at least I think you're human. Never heard of a human with power like that'_ ". The gal had her hands raised up as a sign of submission. She had also dropped her gun to the ground, but on second thought, that was dumb on her part as the gun could have randomly fired from dropping it like that. Goku had stopped in his tracks and looked at the figure staring back at him, unsure if the creature was telling the truth. "Oh yeah? Prove it.", he responded with a scowl.

"Take a look at me! Ugh fine, let me get out first and I'll show you.", she said as she crawled out of the vehicle. Goku was still on guard with the pole facing towards her, but he was able to finally get a better look at her. The being in front of him was fitted in a pink dress, with a purple scarf and brown belt; the front had some letters on it, spelling out BULMA. She had blue sneakers on and purple, puffy things around her ankles. She had a leather glove on her right hand and a red wristband on her left. Her hair was a bright teal and was in a braided ponytail with a red ribbon tied at the front. She did seem to have a lot of human features to her, but she still seemed different somehow.

"Hmmm, you look human, but weird at the same time." He then proceeded to point out her distinctions. "First off, you're really scrawny and weak looking.", he said as he tapped her arms.

"Hey, hands off the merchandise kid! I'm a girl dummy, that's why.", she said with a cautious glare, hoping the kid wouldn't try to poke in places he shouldn't. Goku was shocked and then put his power pole away when she said this.

"Oh, so you're a girl! I'm sorry, I've never met a girl. I had a feeling you might have been, but I wasn't sure. Gah, did that beetle eat you?!", the boy yelped. He then proceeded to jump on the 'beast' and stomped on it. "Take that you bug, you shouldn't eat girls."

The female then chided the lad for stomping on her car. "Hey cut that out, it's not a bug, it's a car!", she said with an annoyed tone. Goku then looked at the thing he was standing on and awed.

"Oh wow, so this is a car? Grandpa told be about them but I've never seen one.", he said as he studied its parts. The girl then realized that the boy had never seen a girl or car before, and was astonished that someone could know so little about the world. She then proceeds to ask him how this was possible.

"Geez kid, is this seriously you're first time seeing a car before? And how is it you've never met a girl?" She now had her hands down as the boy seemed to be relaxed now. The boy hopped down from the car and looked up to the female.

"You're the only human I've seen besides by dead grandpa. Though grandpa said that if I meet a girl, I have to be super nice to her.", he said with an innocent smile. The girl chuckled at how even out here, boys were taught to be gentlemen.

"Hmhmhm, see you have to be nice to me." She said with a wink. Goku continued to stroll around her body to see the differences of the sexes, when he suddenly lifted her skirt to look underneath. Taken aback by this, the female bopped Goku on the head. Seems boys out here weren't as gentlemenly as she thought. "Hey, hands off!", she said as she bopped his head.

"What was that for, I was just trying to see if you had a tail. Hm, guess it's just a guy thing, or maybe girls grown them later." The blunette then noticed the appendage on the boy. She held her face high and tried not to let him see her smirk and giggle.

"Pft, sure kid, I'm sure mine's gonna sprout any day now. _OMG, why does he have a fake tail? Does he think it looks cool?"_

Goku then came to a realization. "Hey if you've got a car, does that mean you're from the city?!", he said in excitement. The girl responded with a simple "Mhm". "Wow, that's so cool! Grandpa told me all about the city, it seemed so cool! Hey, I've got an idea! Come to my house and you can have some of the fish I just caught, then you can tell me all about the city and why you're out in the country." Goku then went and picked up the fish corpse and threw it over his back. He was excited to have company over and to learn about the city. The girl was reluctant and first, though.

"Sorry kid, I'm on a tight schedule.", she replied. Goku became sad and then gently pleaded with her to stay.

"Oh please! I miss having people around, since my grandpa died years ago and I've been all alone. Please come and have lunch, just for a little bit. Pleeeeease!", he said with watery eyes.

The blunette felt a pang of empathy for the boy, being out all alone must have been hard for a young kid like him. She then decided that staying to have lunch wouldn't be such a bad idea. She was still a little on the fence about it, but after checking her radar and seeing that the orb's signal was in the same direction, she complied.

"Oh alright kid, I'll come have some lunch with you." Goku lit up at this, rubbed his eyes briefly, and led the way to his home. On the way, they had started up some idle chit-chat.

"So kid, how did you get so strong? I've heard of a few experienced martial artists who have the kind of power to lift a car, but never from a kid.", asked the girl.

Goku then replied, "My grandpa trained me, and after he died I promised to keep getting stronger. Hehe."

"Wow that's amazing kid! Does strength run in your family?", asked the perplexed female.

"Oh, well grandpa wasn't my real grandpa. He said that one day he found me in some weird ball. He said that my parents were sky people or something and that they sent me her for some reason. He just found me one day and raised me. He's the only family I've ever knew so I call him grandpa, also because he was kinda old, hahaha!", he said as they walked on.

 _Yeah and I'm guessing that made him senile. Sky people? What a weirdo!_ Thought the girl with a crazed look. She then decided to change the subject. "So, my guess is it's safe to assume fish is for lunch? What do you have planned after?"

Goku the looked back and answered her. "Well after we eat, I was thinking we could swap stories and then play for a bit! But after I finish training."

The girl then glanced at him, uneasy of what he meant by play. "Hey now, you'd better not have any inappropriate games in mind.", she said with a cautious tone. Goku looked continued walking and looked back at her, confused by what she meant.

"Inappropriate? Like what? Are city people not allowed to play certain games?", he asked genuinely. The blunette then blushed as she realized what she implied from the boy.

"Oh..uh, its nothing, just a city joke, ahahaha!", she said with a sweat drop and waving her hand around. She walked on with the blush on her face still, embarrassed by what she said. Covering her mouth she thought to herself for a moment. _Oh my gosh, how embarrassing! Guess his grandpa never taught him about_ _ **that**_ _! He's like a little innocent kid, how adorable._ "Hey kid, so what's your name anyways?", asked the female.

There was a brief pause and then the boy revealed his name. "Goku, Son Goku. What yours?" There was another brief pause until the blunette revealed hers. "Bulma, Bulma Shitagi", she responded. (Contrary to popular belief, Bulma has no last name and Dr. Brief's name is actually his first name. Shitagi literally means underwear in Japanese and I feel like that was something I could see Toriyama doing. Also, it would be weird that the family that owns a megacompany like Capsule Corp. wouldn't have a surname.)

"That's a funny name", said Goku. Bulma was a little miffed at this and retorted.

'Yeah well Goku isn't a normal name either!", she chided.

"That's true, but it's not as weird as Bulma, hahaha!", laughed Goku.

"No it's not, it's the name of a lady! Hmph!", yelled Bulma as she crossed her arms and puffed her cheeks.

"Ok, Ok, you're right I'm sorry. It's nice to meet you Bulma.", said Goku with a smile, happy to have another human around since his grandpa died. Bulma just gave a harrumph saying how it probably is. Goku just rolled his eyes but in a silly way, as he could tell she was mostly joking. They soon arrived at his little cottage. Goku put the fish by the fire pit and plopped the logs from earlier in the center. As he was doing this Bulma felt a certain urge coming on.

"Um I'll be right back, I need to powder my nose." She said with an awkward smile. Goku just looked at her confused. She then irritably explained herself. "Ugh, boys can be so dense sometimes. I have to use the bathroom, capeesh?!"

"Bath..room?", was Goku's perplexed response. Bulma just gave a look of disgust at him.

"Eww that's so gross! Do I have to use a bush or something?! Waaaaahhh, Ladies aren't supposed to use bushes!", she wailed as her legs gave out on the floor. Goku seemed to understand what she wanted when she mentioned the bush.

"Oh?..OH! Hahaha, why didn't you just say you had to take a piss. Wait, why do you NEED a bush? I barely ever do it there" he genuinely asked. Bulma was still upset that she had to pee outdoors so she yelled at him.

"Because it isn't lady like!", she screamed, still teary eyed.

Goku used his pinky to clean the inside of his ear. "Geez, you don't have to yell about it. There's one right over there if you really need it." With a gust of wind being the only trail she left, Bulma dashed over to the bush to do her duties. Goku was about to cut up the fish until he heard a screech come from where she went. He knew the girl was new to the woods and feared that a predatory might be nearby, so he dashed over to her. He was right in his assumption because Bulma was held in the claw of a giant Pteranodon as she was screaming for her life. The large flying reptile was blue with a yellow underside and he stared right at the little monkey boy. The Pteranodon began to speak, but only Goku could understand him as he'd been around animals for his entire life.

* * *

" _Well well, what do we have here? Another snack for me to nibble on?"_ , asked the reptile.

"You'd better let her go if you know what's good for you.", said the boy as his eyes sharpened at the Pteranodon.

Bulma was terrified and was trying to contain her fear, as well as something else. "Why are you talking to it?! JUST BEAT IT UP WITH YOUR KUNG-FU OR WHATEVER BEFORE IT EATS ME!", cried Bulma. Goku warned the beast again.

"This is your final chance, I don't want to have to hurt you.", he said as he readied his stance, sticking his now unsheathed powerpole at the reptile. This was a lie, as Goku was itching to pounce. His fingers were constantly tapping on the pole, his tail flicking back and forth, and his body doing little twitches trying to release up his pent-up aggression. He thought he had gotten over this, but it had been so long since he'd faced an opponent, his fighting instincts had bubbled up again. He was thinking of charging forward, but his promise to his grandfather constantly rang in his head. Goku was in a daze, trying to decide what to do, then the beast responded, snapping him out of it.

" _Is that so? Well too bad kid! I haven't eaten in weeks and I'm not giving up this meal, so if you want to get gobbled with her I won't stop you, hehe."_ , cackled the Pteranodon. Hearing this suddenly gave Goku and idea but he had to make a decision quickly. He stopped in his tracks staring at the reptile for a moment. The beast mistook this for surrender. " _Giving up ay? Smart kid."_ The Pteranodon was about to fly off with a screaming Bulma, but before it could, Goku spoke once again.

"WAIT!", screamed Goku. The reptile had been faced the other way ready for takeoff, but suddenly stopped when it heard the boy shout.

" _What, you change your mind about being dinner?"_ , asked the beast. Goku looked at the ground and then sighed. He didn't want to do what he was about to do as he wasn't sure doing it was worth saving this girl he just met. So far, she had been rather rude to him and quite bossy, but she was a person, and the only one he had seen in a long time. He didn't want to be alone again so he decided to make a sacrifice. He looked up and faced the creature.

"How about we make a trade?", said the monkey boy. The Pteranodon looked at him, wondering what he could possibly have to offer.

" _Oh? And what would a little brat like you have to offer me? No offense kid, but I'm not interested in your little play things."_ , it said as it finished off with a growl. Bulma had been trembling quietly, wondering what Goku could possibly be doing. There was no way he was talking to this monster, but she hadn't been eaten yet, so she decided to let them talk it out. Maybe she could devise some sort of plan, or at the very least delay the inevitable. Goku smirked at the reptile's question.

"How about a nice juicy fish?", said Goku with a tone of temptation, which actually worked as the beast was intrigued to hear more. Now having the creature's full attention, he went and elaborated. "Yeah, I just caught this giant blue fish by the waterfall. I'll let you have it if you let her go. It's got a lot more meat on it, trust me." The Pteranodon looked up in imagination of eating such a thing and started to drool. It shook its head back into reality and agreed to the little boy's prospect.

" _Ok kid, if it's the real deal, the bring the fish here and I'll do what you ask."_

"How do I know you won't just fly off with Bulma AND my fish?", asked Goku, being ever cautious.

The beast was caught by surprise. _Eh…how did he know. Kids got some good intuitiveness, that's for sure._ The reptile responded with a sweat drop. " _Alright, alright, I won't take the girl! Happy?"_ , replied the Pteranodon in an annoyed fashion. Goku nodded his head with a smile. " _Good, NOW GO GET THAT FISH BEFORE I CHANGE MY MIND!"_ , screeched the beast, having very little patience left. Goku then rushed off back to the house to grab his catch. Bulma had calmed down a little bit after seeing how Goku was able to somehow communicate with the animal and make a trade deal. Her nerves soon returned when the beast pulled her up close to its face with its claw. " _You'd better hope he's not tricking me, or you're gonna be digested very slowly."_ To Bulma this just sounded like growls and screeches, but she somehow knew what it was saying and slowly nodded. Goku then rustled out of the bushes with his catch behind his back. The Pteranodon saw the fish and dropped its jaw at how big it was. Its mouth began to form puddles of drool on the ground and he flapped over to go and grab it, but Goku stopped it. He pointed to Bulma, who was still clutched in the claw. The beast was annoyed about it, but a deal was a deal. He dropped her to the ground in a rather rough fashion, making her plop on her butt. After gathering her bearings, she rushed behind Goku and stared up at the beast, cowering in fear. The reptile took once last glance at the pair and flew off with the fish. Bulma was still trembling and accidentally peed right there. Goku smelled this and turned to her. He saw little drips of liquid coming from her crotch area.

"See, I told you, you didn't need a bush.", said the boy rather innocently. He was a wild child and thought it was normal to take your business wherever. Bulma was in so much shock she didn't yell at him. She didn't even look at him. All she did was stare forward, still totally petrified.

"I need a shower", she whimpered. Goku just looked at her and tilted his head. "Shower?", he asked. This fact broke the camel's figurative back for Bulma, made evident by her shriek which could be heard for miles.

Bulma was soaking in the lake that Goku had led her to, letting the mineral rich water soak into her pores and hopefully clean her as well. She had luckily brought an extra pair of clothes with her and left her old ones out to dry. She had a lot of things on her mind. How did she end up in this mess, how was that boy so powerful, what wish was she going to make to the dragon god Shenron when she got all the dragon balls? The blunette then decided she had been soaking in the water for long enough and got out to robe herself. She didn't have a towel with her on hand, it had gotten considerably hotter, so she knew she would dry soon enough. After getting dressed, she grabbed her old clothes, stuffed them in her bag and walked back to where she told Goku to wait. The boy had been sitting on a tree branch, swinging his legs back and forth waiting for the girl to finish. He wanted to join her in the lake, but she yelled at him to wait there. He didn't feel like getting screamed at again, so he obliged. _Were city people weird about who and where they spent time with?_ He would have to ask her that later. They were still going to have lunch, since the Pteranodon decided to be generous and flew back to give the scraps to Goku.

 _Flashback start_

 _"Look kid, I like your moxie and appreciate what you did for me, so how's about you can have my leftovers?" He dropped the fish from his claw with a meaty thud. The reptile had left the tail end intact, enough for Bulma to eat and just enough to hold Goku over until dinner._

" _Wow, you mean it? Thanks Mr. Pteranodon!", exclaimed Goku._

" _Heh, don't mention it kid, and the name's Toh-toh!", he yelled as he flew off._

 _Flashback over_

Bulma had been gone when Toh-toh had returned, so there was no issue.

Goku saw Bulma walk towards him and hopped down from the tree. He landed on his feet and looked up. She still had her hair in the same manner, but her new clothes were totally different. She had worn a tight white croptop and beige khaki pants. Goku went and picked up the fish tail and led the way to his hut. Bulma was under the impression that she wouldn't be having lunch anymore (it was better that being lunch in her opinion), but that changed when she saw what Goku was carrying.

"Wait, Goku where did you get that fish from?"

"From Toh-toh", said Goku.

"Ok…who's Toh-toh?", she asked suspiciously.

"The Pteranodon. He came back and gave me his leftovers as a thank you for giving him the fish.", he calmly replied. The gal then shot her eyes up in every direction, wondering if it was soaring around waiting for the right moment to snatch her up. "Don't worry, he's gone now. He didn't seem that bad a guy, he was just hungry is all.", he tried to reassure her.

"You don't know that, you don't know that at all. He could be lying in wait….watching.", she said paranoidly. She then ducked behind Goku and held onto his shoulders.

"No, I'm pretty sure he's gone now.", he assured her.

"O..ok, if you say so.", she replied as she got back into her normal posture.

Finally, they had made it to his hut. He wasn't kidding when he said it was a little hut. Goku had told Bulma to go and sit on one of the log seats circled around the fire pit. She complied and watched as the boy went and prepared everything. Firstly, he took out a few of the logs he broke from earlier in the day; there was less food, thus less logs were needed. He then performed his fire-starting trick he learned from his grandpa, the classic rubbing two sticks together. He was having a bit of trouble as it had rained the night before and it was still a little humid out. Bulma noticed this and took out a lighter she had with her, setting the wood ablaze. Goku was memorized by how quickly she was able to start the fire with her little machine, and Bulma gave a cocky smile. Goku then ran inside and brought out a large knife that he used for cutting up the food. He sliced up the fish into bits and pulled out this flat rock from out of a nearby bush. He placed a large leaf on the rock and put the fish chunks on the top. Once everything was prepared, he placed the rock onto the fire pit and let the rock slowly heat up. Waiting for the fish to cook, Goku went on to ask a bunch of questions.

* * *

"So Bulma, what brings you out to the country?" Not sure if it would be wise to reveal the quest that she is on, as he might want a wish for himself, she decided to tell a half truth.

"Well, I'm on summer break and am bored with the city, so I thought the country would be a nice change of scenery. I heard Mount Paozu is beautiful this time of year, so I said what the hell.", she replied with shrug.

"What's a summer break, did you break something?", asked the curious Goku.

"Man you really are secluded, aren't you? I'm on a school break, silly.", replied Bulma. She then looked a Goku give a confused look and tilt his head. She closed her eyes, huffed, and opened them up again before she went into her explanation. "Do you know what school is, Goku?". He shook his head, causing Bulma to sigh even bigger this time and now she had to explain even more. "Well, in most places on earth, children go to a single place where grownups teach them about the world and how it works." Goku then brightened up and smiled.

"Oh, why didn't you say it was a teaching place? My grandpa taught me a lot of stuff. Do you guys learn how to hunt and train in the city too?", asked Goku.

"No, we don't need to hunt because we get our food at the grocery store, and most people don't train.", replied the blunette.

"Grocery store?", asked the boy.

Bulma then lowered her head in defeat, knowing there was no way around explain every single aspect of city life to this kid. "*sigh* It's gonna be a long day, isn't it?"

The fish had finished cooking and they both ate it, along with some vegetables that Goku had picked the day before. They had sat outside and Bulma spent hours explaining how the world worked. She told him about basic economics, science, history, language, and many other aspects of human life. Goku was confused at the end, but gained a general understanding of how things outside of his hut worked. Granted he was a still a socially awkward kid, but he wasn't an idiot and now knew about having to pay for things he wanted, not to pee in public, and other important concepts. She was astounded by the amount that Goku had engorged himself on. He had given her a portion that was more his size, so she barley ate what she was given. Now it was Bulma's turn to ask questions.

"So Goku, why didn't you just beat up that Pteranodon. Not that I'm complaining, but you gave up that whole fish for me and we've only just met."

Goku was still finishing his scraps when he put his rock plate down and looked to her. "Well, that's just what my grandpa taught me to do. He said that fighting should only end conflicts, not start them. He said it should be a last resort, only when you've tried to talk it out and haven't come to a compromise. Even then, he said to never kill your opponent, unless it's the only way.". Goku then looked down at the ground, which remined him of his grandfather who was buried in it. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to fight him…." He then glanced back up to Bulma and put a smile on. ",but if I did, then I wouldn't have become friends with Toh-toh.", he said with a large grin. Bulma had to admit that the kid had this aura to him, as she started to warmly grin at his perspective.

"Yeah, you make a good point, but I would say that you're friends with that lizard. He just decided to spare us.", she said with a bit of snark in her tone. Goku just shrugged. He thought he was friends now. Why else would Toh-toh give him the fish? He was interrupted from his thought when the blunette asked him another question.

"So Goku…how long have you been out here by yourself?", she asked with a more serious expression. Goku looked up to the sky, trying to count how many times the seasons had come and gone. It had been quite a few and he wasn't sure he could tell how many years it added up to.

"Mmmm, maybe two or three?" Bulma was shocked to how nonchalantly he responded.

"I'm surprised how calm you are about it. Anyone else would go insane being alone for that long.", she said.

"Well then, I guess I'm not like most people then.", he responded with the same goofy grin.

"Hmhm, thats true. You really are one of a kind Goku.", she chuckled, as did Goku.

"It can get pretty lonely, though. There were times where I thought I was going crazy, thinking I heard my grandpa's voice coming from his memento to me. I guess I just really miss him." This then reminded Goku that he hadn't properly welcomed her to his home. Grandpa Gohan had taught him that guests were to be shown around the home and offered whatever they needed. He was so hungry earlier that he had forgotten to do that. He quickly sucked up some water in his cheeks from the nearby stream and puffed it out onto the fire. Goku had done a few apologetic bows and Bulma had tried to reassure him that it was fine, but he wasn't having any of it. He dragged her to the door of his hut and opened it up.

"Well, this is my house. That's the table where I eat sometimes and there's the bed. We can sleep there tonight."

"Woah what!? I knew you were a little pervert!" She then kicked him into the wall with a look of anger on her face. Goku slammed into the wall quite comedically and slid to the floor. He then darted up and told Bulma off.

"Ow! What the heck was that for. You know, I don't know why grandpa said to be nice to girls. You've been pretty mean to me so far.", to which he crossed his arms and faced the other way. Bulma wasn't having any of it and yelled back at him.

"BECAUSE YOU'VE BEEN A LITTLE PERV, THAT'S WHY! I'M NOT SLEEPIGN WITH YOU, YOU PERVERT!" Goku wasn't that mad that Bulma yelled at him and replied in a more annoyed fashion.

"Stop calling me pervert, whatever it means! I don't see the problem, I slept with my grandpa all the time. What's the big deal?", he genuinely asked.

Bulma having calmed down a bit, responded. "Because you're a boy and I'm a girl that's why! Hmph!"

"Oh, so are boys not allowed to sleep with girls?", assumed Goku.

"Yes!...well no….ugh, its complicated. Its ok for family to sleep together, but strangers sleeping together is weird, well only if they both want to sleep with each other, but that's a different kind of sleeping _There really isn't any sleeping in that kind._ " She then looked down at a confused Goku who had no idea what she was talking about. "Ugh, look I just won't ok?", she said.

"Well geez, that's all you had to say in the first place. I still don't see the problem, but whatever.", said the young lad. "Well there's not much else in my hut to show you, Oh except for my grandpa's treasure!", exclaimed Goku. He then pointed to the ball sitting on a purple pillow!

"Ahaha! The Dragon Ball!", shouted Bulma. She then proceeded to pick it up, but this upset Goku.

"Hey, no one's allowed to touch grandpa's treasure!", said Goku in a rather angry tone.

Bulma just sighed. "Huh, I guess showing you will be easier.". She then reached into the brown purse she had been carrying with her and took out two more balls, almost identical to Goku's. The difference between the three was one had five little orange stars in it, the other two, and Goku's had four.

"Oh wow, you have treasures just like grandpa's!", exclaimed Goku. Now that she had his attention, she decided she could explain the situation to him.

"Not just any treasure, Dragon Balls!"

"Dragon Balls? I don't think their balls look like that.", said Goku with the most innocent look. Bulma blushed and did that comedic giant head as she yelled.

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT!" Her head the shrunk to normal size. "Ok, I guess I should be honest with you. I didn't just come to Mount Paozu for the scenery, I came her looking for your Dragon Ball. I found one in my basement a couple of months ago and looked them up online. I found out that they're connected with the dragon god Shenron, and that when all seven are gathered together and you say the password, Shenron appears and grants a wish!"

Goku's face lit up at this revelation. "REALLY! That's so cool!", he exclaimed.

"Mhm, it is cool. But I need all seven to summon Shenron, so if you don't mind.", Bulma said coyly as she tried to reach over and take the four-star ball. Goku had stopped her in her tracks by lightly smacking her approaching hand. Bulma retracted her hand and put the other one on top of it, in a defensive position.

"Ow, what the heck?!", she said to Goku while covering the sting mark. Goku just gave a light glare at her.

"I said it was cool. I didn't say you could have my ball for it.", he replied coldly. He may have given up his fish for this girl, but he wasn't going to give up his memento for her.

Bulma was taken aback, not used to being denied what she wanted. "Hey, quite being difficult! I'll give it back when I'm done.", she said as she tried to snatch it from the boy's hand. Goku just kept evading her advances and stuck his tongue out at her. This made Bulma upset, but she suddenly gained an idea. "Hmhm, I know, how about a trade?" she said proceeding to lift up her skirt. "you give me the Dragonball and to reward your persistent advances, you can get a little peek. Maybe I'll let you pop in a quick feel too? How's that sound?", she said temptingly. Bulma didn't like having to use her body to get what she wanted, but she hated not getting what she wanted even more. Goku may have been a boy, but he was only twelve and the dirtiest thing he had thought about the girl was that she was pretty.

"Why would I want to look at your dirty fanny? You know what comes out of there right?", he asked her. This infuriated her, both because he didn't find her attractive and that because of that, she couldn't get the dragon ball.

"IT IS NOT DIRTY!", she screeched. Her demeanor then went to a more passive one as she tried to think of how else to get the ball from him. (She honestly might be a little bipolar, LOL). She looked at the boy for a moment and studied his figure. She didn't notice it before, but he was very tone for a child, probably from all the training he mentioned he does. He was also very fidgety, hid body seemingly twitching constantly. She looked at his peculiar shaped hair. It reminded her of the fronds on a palm tree. She looked back down at him, who was dead eyeing her. She recalled the strength that the boy possessed, but that he wasn't very aggressive about it and was quite a strategist instead of an outright brawler. Someone like him would be good to have as company. She would need a bodyguard of sorts on this adventure, and his cunning could be useful as well. While Bulma was a genius, she was also sidetracked easily by mundane things; such as boys and the pampered life. She gave him a warm smirk and spoke. "I know, why don't you come with me Goku? That way I can have the ball and you can keep an I on it while I borrow it?" Goku looked impressed with the idea.

"Go with you? On an adventure?", he said intriguingly. Him, go on an adventure to see the world and see a dragon god grant a wish? It sounded too good to be true. Perhaps it was. "Wait..is there a catch?" He eyed her with a suspicious glance. Bulma began to tense as there was a bit of one. After the wish was made, the Dragonball's were supposed to scatter around the globe. She could lie, but her conscious suddenly came and told her that Goku did save her and deserved to be told the truth.

"Ok, there might be one…after the wish is made, the Dragonball's supposedly…scatter around the world.", she said attempting to whisper the last part. It didn't work, as Goku's unknown Saiyan hearing picked up her mumbling.

"What?! There's no way I'm going now. I'm sorry Bulma but I guess your adventure ends here, cause I'm not giving you this Dragonball.", he stated. Bulma put her head down in defeat, but one final idea came to her head.

"OK..what if I give you the wish? Think about it, if you could wish for anything in the world, what would it be?", she asked with a slight curiosity herself to find out what a wild child could possibly want in life. Goku knew exactly what he would wish for, or at least he thought he would. He was about to speak, but his head was now turning gears.

"You know, I thought that I would wish my grandpa back to life, but now that I'm thinking about it, I want to be the strongest in the world. That way I can avenge grandpa and show everyone how strong he made me, and then when I wished him back, I wouldn't have to worry about the monster killing him again. I would finally be strong enough to fight it off and protect grandpa.", he said his eyes beginning to water. Bulma was silent for the moment. She respected the honor behind the kids wish and seeing this powerhouse of a fighter cry made her realize how important this was to him. It made her tear up a little.

"*Sniff* That's so sweet. It makes my wish feel to stupid compared to yours."

"What's your wish, Bulma?", asked Goku who was wiping his arm on his eyes.

"Oh, just something stupid, like a lifetime supply of strawberries.", she said wiping her own eyes.

"Strawberries? I've never heard of that type of berry. Does it taste like straw, why would you want to eat straw?", asked Goku. Bulma then cupped he hands to her face as pink came to her face. She closed her eyes and began to describe the fruit.

"Oh no Goku. They are the sweetest fruit you'll ever have. It's this plump red berry with the seeds on the outside, and the inside is a delectably sweet white flesh.", she said mesmerized by her description of the berry. It was sufficing to say that Goku really wanted to try one.

"Wow that's sounds delicious!", he said. Bulma agreed and spoke up again.

"They are, and you know what? If you come with me, I'll share it all with you. I'm sure with a lifetime supply, I'll have plenty to share." To which she questioned, remembering the appetite that Goku carried. "Well, if the balls work that is. If they do, you can have your's first and we can make the strawberry wish next year, when the balls reactivate."

"No that's OK, Bulma. I don't want to become strong just by wishing for it, I want to earn it.", said the monkey boy. This lightened Bulma's mood.

"So, does that mean you'll come?", she expectantly asked? Goku thought about it for a minute more and shook his head in agreement. Bulma jumped in the air, knowing she was that much closer to getting her wish, but Goku suddenly stopped her with his words.

"Only on a few conditions though.", he said to her rather sternly. Bulma wasn't expecting Goku to have any demands, but she would be willing to meet them as long as they were reasonable.

"Ok, but no sexual favors.", she said sternly herself as to make it clear she was serious. Goku just tilted his head again, not knowing what that meant. Bulma just facepalmed herself and blushed for saying that to the boy.

"Why do I keep saying stuff like that when you're obviously not even aware of 'that'?" She then removed her hand and crossed her arms as a sign that she was willing to hear what he had to say. "Ok, what do you want?", she asked bluntly.

"First off, stop hitting me for no reason.", he stated.

"It's not for no reason, but I'll try to do it less. If you get out of line though, you'd better expect to see it coming.", she warned him.

"That's fair I guess, but a heads up on what getting out of line is would be nice. Ok second, quit yelling at me, I don't know if you can hear as well as me, but it really hurts my ears.", he commanded. Bulma was willing to try and comply with this.

"I can't guarantee I won't yell, but I will try to do it less.", she responded.

"I appreciate that. Finally, be honest with me. No more tricks ok?" This one was a bit more serious. She could tell that he didn't like to be lied to.

"Ok deal!" She unwrapped her arms and extended her left hand for a shake. "Let's shake on it. Partners?" Normally Goku would have no idea what she meant by shake, but that was one of the thing he learned from the long talk he had with Bulma. He looked at her gesture and shook his head in a disapproving fashion. He then extended the corresponding hand out and decided to make a different kind of pact. "Friends", was his simple request. Bulma had no problem with this and thought it would be nice to have her company be more of a friend than just an acquaintance. She took his hand with a cheerful smile and began to shake.

"Ok, friends it is.", she said with a smile.

* * *

Just as they finished shaking, the sun had gone down and it was now twilight. "Ah, look how late it's gotten. Wait, didn't you say something about a monster earlier Goku?! Gah! And didn't you say it's stronger than you!", she said in a panicked manner.

"Yeah, but don't worry. It only comes out at night during full moons. I am wondering where you'll sleep tonight though, since you said you won't sleep with me.", said the monkey boy. The genius female had come prepared though.

"Oh, don't worry about that. I've got it covered." She then ran outside and took out a small case. Inside were these tiny looking pill things. Goku thought she ran out to get materials for a shelter, but when he saw her take out that box, he was curious to what she was going to do next. The blunette took out one of the capsule shaped devices, clicked the little button at the top, and tossed it onto the ground. Goku stood by wondering what she did that for when suddenly a cloud of smoke appeared and after it settled, a house came into view. It was small, but much larger than Goku's by comparison. It was completely round in shape and had and extension on one side. There were a few small windows that ringed the house and a single door at the front.

"Oh wow! Was that that DynoCapsule thing you told me about earlier?", asked Goku. Bulma nodded and proceeded to open the door to her capsule home. They both glanced at the interior which was quite modern. There was a yellow bed next to a white dresser with a TV mounted into it. A small round, white table centered the room, and against the left wall was a tiny kitchen area. The floor was made out of orange tile and there was a big curved window above the bed. Bulma went to the light switch and flicked it up, causing the lights to flicker until they fazed on.

"Gah, how did you make light in here when it's dark out there?!", asked Goku.

"I told you earlier. Did you forget already? This is electricity. Think of it as lightning in a bottle. We use this 'lightning' to power things like lightbulbs, AC's, and other appliances. Like this one." She then proceeded to turn on the TV. The TV was set on some music channel and the man on screen was playing the guitar horribly. Goku gawked at the TV.

"Oh no, is that man trapped in the box? Is he trying to shatter the glass by playing crappy music?" Bulma chuckled as she changed the station. The TV was now showing a romantic program. It was a man and women speaking to each other and they were moving in for a kiss. Goku thought they were going to eat each other, but when he looked up to Bulma and saw she wasn't worried, he didn't either. She was being weird though. She was looking at the pair in the box with these heart eyes and was drooling. She was also mumbling about a 'kiss', which Goku guessed is what those two were doing. He saw the little rectangle in her hand and took it from her while she was twitter-patted. He looked at the bar and saw a button that said, 'change channel'. He didn't know what a channel was but if could change this boring 'kissing' then he didn't care. He clicked the button and suddenly the Godzilla movie came on. Godzilla did a 4th wall break and blew fire at the screen, which startled Bulma. She fell on her rump and Goku pointed and laughed. He looked back at the screen and was mesmerized.

"I get it now. It's like a moving picture, right?", he turned to ask the downed girl.

She got up and dusted herself off while replying "Quit laughing and yes that's basically what TV is". "Hmph, I think that's enough TV for today." She frowned a little, took the remote back from Goku, and turned the TV off.

"Aw OK", replied Goku. *Grrrrr* A strange noise was heard and Bulma suddenly went on hyper alert and ducked behind Goku.

"W.w. that the monster?!", she stuttered.

"I told you, it only comes out during the full moon. That was my stomach, I'm hungry.", said the boy.

"Hm, I could go for something to eat. What is there to eat around here?", asked the blunnete.

"Let me go check". Goku then dashed out the door and surveyed the area for potential prey, Bulma just sat on the bed waiting for Goku to return with a wild boar or another fish. It was quiet until she heard a shriek outside. She was going to get up to check, but then Goku rushed back inside. He was holding a dead wolf in one hand and a live centipede in the other. His blue gi was now stained with blood, but only a few splotches.

"Hey, it's our lucky day, I found a wolf and we can have the centipede for dessert.", he said enthusiastically. Bulma looked at the wolf corpse laying on the floor and clutched in the boy's hand, then over to the centipede squirming in his grip. She was hungry, but wolves were related to dogs, and she'd feel bad about it, and there was no way in hell she was eating a bug. She was trembling in disgust and muttered her words out.

"Goku…I know I promised not to yell at you anymore, but if you don't get those things out of here right now.", she trembly replied.

"What's wrong, are you allergic?", asked Goku. Bulma just kept eyeing the animals and her eyes almost popped out their sockets from the intense disgust she felt.

"No, but I am not eating that, so please, just get it out of here.", she said while swiping her hands to the door. Goku just rolled his eyes and walked out of the house with his meal.

"Do you have anything to eat though? I don't want you to go hungry." Bulma was calmer now, but she still was staring at the centipede, its jaws snapping shut every couple second. She shook her head out of her gaze and responded.

"Yes, I think I have some stuff for PB&J, so I'll be fine. Thank you though." Goku didn't know what kind of food would have a weird name like that, but if she had food, then he'd leave her to eat. He was hungry himself and wanted to get to cooking this meat right away. He went out and built a fire pit with a spit to rotate the carcass over the flames. Bulma then went on to make herself the PB&J sandwich she had just mentioned. As she ate, she delved into her mind.

 _That kid sure is a strange one. Oh well, I guess it can't be helped. I'm sure I'd be weird too if I spent my whole life in the woods. I tried to tell him how to behave normal, but I guess somethings just can't be learnt without experience. I suppose it's good that he's going on this journey with me. Hopefully he can integrate with society and won't have to live in the jungle anymore. I'll have to be the judge of that though and keep an eye on how well he does._

* * *

Bulma had finished chewing her final bite and cleaned her dishes. She had poured herself a glass of milk she had in the fridge and slowly drank it. She walked outside and saw Goku was just about finished with the wolf he caught. How he could eat anything, she couldn't understand. She watched in curiosity as he ripped out the tender cooked flesh and left a pile of bones off the side.

Goku had heard his friend come outside and looked back to her staring at him, He smiled and waved with his mouth full of food. Bulma saw this and looked down in a slight disappointed and weird out face, waving back as well. Goku gulped down on his last piece of meat and walked to her with a stick in his hand, but not before throwing a pile of sand on top of the fire. In his hand was a stick with the centipede skewered through it. As he walked in he bit the head of and started to suck out the inside.

"Want some. The insides are sweet like fruit." He said as he stuck the decapitated myriapod in her face. Bulma fell on her butt trying to get away from the centipede carcass.

"Eww, No No NO!", she yelped. Goku rolled his eyes and sucked away the hemolymph of centipede (hemolymph is what bug blood is called).

"I don't see what the problem is, meat is meat." Said the wild boy, slurping the final remains of the arthropod. Bulma had shaken her nerves and got back up. Her nose then caught whiff of a foul smell. She pinched her nose and looked around, until her eyes stopped on Goku, who was tossing the centipede's exoskeleton out the door.

"Oy My God, Goku! You reek, when's the last time you took a bathe?!", she said with a nasally voice since her nose was plugged.

"Ummm, last week I think.", replied the monkey child. Bulma thought she was about to vomit, but she kept her bile in her stomach and took a moment to collect herself. Once she had calmed she glared at Goku.

"Goku, as your friend, I have to say that is disgusting and that you need to go bathe right now."

Goku didn't seem to have much problem with this as he did feel rather sweaty and had blood stains on his shirt. Bulma had pointed for him to go and use the bathroom in her house, but he was already out the door. It was dark out, but the moon was a little past half full, so there was a decent amount if light. He skidded over to the creek near his house and jumped in. The water was nice and cool and he felt the sweat and blood wash away. After a minute of splashing around, he hopped out and walked back to Bulma's capsule house. He walked in with his clothes and body dripping wet.

"Done!" he yelled. She glanced at him and saw that he only jumped into water and didn't bother to clean himself. She scowled at him and grrr'd.

"Grrr, Goku you can't just jump in the water and say you took a bath.", she scolded him.

"But..that's what a bath is..isn't it?" He asked now wondering if city people bathed differently. He knew they took some weird thing called a shower, which she explained to him as a rainstorm that you could control indoors (Hey she's not gonna sit around and explain every minute aspect of life to him. It's easier to explain things through what he already knows).

"Uhhh…*sigh*, I guess I can't expect you to know what a proper bath is." She then glanced at Goku and winced. "I..guess I have to show you."

Bulma had brought little Goku to the bathroom and filled up the tub with warm water.

"Ok, change out of your clothes.", she commanded as she turned around to give him privacy. One by one, each of his soggy clothes came off and plopped onto the bathroom floor. He wasn't sure why she turned around, but he was tired of trying to figure out all of her weird city customs for the time being.

"OK, I'm done.", he said. Bulma then turned to look at Goku and immediately blushed and turned her head the other way.

"Goku, you're supposed to cover up the front!", she said embarrassingly. Goku then took the towel that Bulma left for him on the toilet seat and put it up in front of his face.

"Like this?" he innocently replied. Bulma looked over and simply face palmed at his ignorance.

"Ugh, never mind, just get in the tub." She then poured water on his head and got the bottle of shampoo. She squirted some into her hand and began scrubbing his scalp. "You should consider yourself grateful that I'm doing this for you.", she chided.

"Bulma, what's this bubbly stuff you put in my hair.", asked the monkey boy. Bulma was no longer embarrassed about being around the nude child since he didn't seem to think in a perverted manner. She was still cautious though. Even if he had no idea about sex, instincts were still very real and she didn't want to have to explain the awkwardness of a boner to him. He didn't look it, but she could tell that he was around that age.

"It's shampoo and it's used to clean your hair and make it smell nice. It's no wonder your hair stands up like this." More bubbles began forming and floated around the room. Goku popped one with his fingers and giggled. Bulma found his innocent nature to be cute and smiled at him. Once she finished with his head, she rinsed it off with the shower hose and grabbed the back brush. "OK, turn around. It's time to wash your back." She then looked at the tail appendage attached to his rear. "Wow Goku, how do you keep this thing on? I thought you tied it to your pants or something, do you have it super glued to your butt?" She then went to pick it up and tugged on it a little. Goku then felt weak and collapsed in the tub. "Ahhh, Goku are you alright!" she asked panickily. Goku gathered his bearing and slowly gained his strength back.

"Y..yeah I'm OK. I forgot to tell you, when my tail is pulled or grabbed I get super weak. Here, let me scrub my own back.", he said as he used his prehensile tail to pick up the brush and do just that. Bulma was flabbergasted (Ya like that? I like to use fancy words sometimes to look like an intellectual prick, LOL). This whole time, she thought the tail was some fashion accessory for country people. She realized she was dead wrong, watching as the tail moved up and down. She had decided she had dealt with enough for one night and got up walked out of the bathroom. Goku watched as she strutted out the bathroom door and wondered if something was wrong.

"Bulma, you OK?", he asked in concern. Bulma answered from behind the door.

"You..,J..just finish up quick so I can have a turn. You know what to do now right?", she stuttered out.

"Yeah, I think so, I'll let you know when I'm done." He said to the girl on the other side of the door. Bulma walked over to her bead and sat on it, her hands cupping the sides of her face, thinking to herself. _Oh boy, what have I gotten myself into with this kid. I hope this helps me out in the long run, or at the very least to help me find all the Dragon Balls._

* * *

Goku had finished cleaning himself and dried off with the towel Bulma left him. He walked out with his clothes in hand and towel on his shoulder. Bulma was sitting on her bed criss-cross and saw the boy come out of the shower.

"Oh good, you're done.", she said. Goku responded with a small "Yup". Bulma was super weirded out still by what she thought was some weird vestigial trait and pressed him further about it. "Ok I need to ask this. Goku, why do you have a tail?", she questioned. Goku was still drying his hair and looked at Bulma, who was so fixated on his tail, she didn't notice he was still naked.

"What do you mean, do you not have one?" he asked her.

"What?! No way, why would I have a tail?!", she asked appalled by the question. She started to imagine having a furry tail like Goku' and how awkward it would be. Everyone would make fun of her and she'd have to cut holes in all her clothes. Her dream of having the perfect boyfriend would also go out the window. Goku turned to look at his appendage and wiggled it around.

"I thought everyone had a tail, guess it really is just a guy thing then." He said starting to put his pants on. Bulma was quick to interject to that.

"No way, guys don't have tails!...do they?", she asked curiously. She had never actually seen a boy naked before meeting Goku, not even her own father. Did boys really have tails and she didn't know about it? She looked at the ground trying to process this new information, until Goku added more to say.

"Well I guess not all guys, since I never saw one on my grandpa.", he said while grabbing his chin trying to remember if he'd seen a tail on Grandpa Gohan. Bulma then crawled closer to Goku in a frantic manner and pointed at him.

"See, See! Tail's aren't normal, or else your grandpa would have had one!" she exclaimed, glad that her worldview of boys was still intact.

"Yeah, but my grandpa was pretty old. Maybe they fall off when you hit a certain age. All I know is that when my grandpa found me, I had a tail. Must be a sky people thing, since my grandpa said that's where I came from.", he rebutted. Goku had pulled his short over his head and was now fully dressed. Goku mentioning the 'sky people' story again raised curiosity in the young girl.

"Hey Goku, you don't really believe you came from the sky, right? I mean, that'd mean you're and alien or angel or something and that's impossible.", she said wittily.

"I don't know what any of that means, but I trust my grandpa. If he says that's where I'm from, then that's where I'm from.", he responded confidently. Bulma still didn't believe it, but admired the kid's trust and confidence and ended the conversation with a shrug. Goku let out a yawn and stretched his arms.

"*Yaaaawwwwn*, I'm kinda sleepy.", said Goku has he scratched his head. Bulma looked down to see a sleepy little boy struggle to keep his eyes open. She couldn't help but giggle at how cute he looked when he was sleepy.

"Well it seems like it way past someone's bedtime, you should head off to sleep.", she gently said. Goku looked up with droopy eyes and nooded with a slight smile. He waddled out of Bulma's capsule house and said a simple goodnight which she returned. She watched to make sure Goku got to his cottage ok and when the door closed she closed her own. _He may be a little scamp sometimes, but he is still just a kid. Hmhmhm, a little cutie pie too. Reminds me of myself when I was his age, expect I was waaaay smarter. I mean who doesn't know what a proper bath is? Well I guess, he is an exception since he's lived in the woods all his life._ It was then she realized she hadn't taken one herself yet. "Oh, a bath sounds so nice right now.

Bulma was in full nude but hid herself under the water. She had filled the tub just enough to hide her pert, teen, feminine features. The water was nice and warm and filled with bubbles. Her hair was down so that she could let it soak. Her arms were resting on the tub rims and her feet dangled out of the end. "Ah this is what the doctor ordered. Taking a soak in that spring was nice, but nothing beats an old-fashioned bubble bath with fresh smelling soap." She rested her head back and closed her eyes. She was so at peace that she didn't notice the world around her. That's why she almost had a heart attack when a voice suddenly spoke out.

"Hey Bulma", said the voice. Bulma jumped up and almost fell out of the tub.

"Gaaaaaahhhhh! G..GOKU! WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN HERE!", she screamed. Goku had plugged his ears and spoke when she finished yelling.

"Hey, no yelling! I'm here because I forgot to wash your back. You helped wash mine, but you don't have a tail, so I thought you'd need help", he responded. Bulma looked at him while keeping her sacred parts submerged. Her eye twitched and she tried to keep her cool, but she failed at doing so.

"I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP GET OUT!", she shouted.

"Geez, I was just trying to help. What's the problem, you washed my back, why can't I wash yours?" he asked rather annoyed at her double standards. Bulma began to blush and continued to scream.

"There's a big difference between that. You're a little kid and I'm practically a grown woman!", she scolded.

"There is?" he asked innocently.

"Yes, there certainly is, but we're not getting in to that right now." She blushed and ducked her head partially into the water.

"Aw c'mon Bulma, it's not fair that you wash my back. Oh I get it, don't worry Bulma you don't have to be embarrassed, I won't laugh I promise.", said Goku as he put one hand on his heart and the other in the air as a symbol of pledge. Bulma gave him a scowl.

"Hey, I happen to be one of the most beautiful girls around, so what do I have to be embarrassed about?!", she chided.

"Not having a tail…", said Goku nonchalantly. Bulma had met her breaking point, but instead of exploding she ducked into the tub more and gave a blank face.

"That's it, get out of my face.", she blandly commanded.

"Aw, c'mon Bulma", whined the boy.

"Beat it…" she said as she lowered her mouth into the water and began blowing bubbles. Goku tilted his head and continued staring at the blunette in the tub. She was annoyed and was hoping that if she sat still for long enough, Goku would get bored and leave. After a minute Goku was still there and Bulma had enough and got out of the tub. She didn't even care that she was naked anymore. She walked over to Goku and grabbed his tail. Goku screamed out in pain and went limp. Bulma carried him by the tail to the front door, opened it, and plopped him on the ground. She then slammed the door and went to finish her bath. Goku's strength returned and he got up and kicked the door in anger. He was about to walk off when the door creaked open. Even though Goku might have caught a peek, she wasn't going to give him a full-length view. Goku looked at the creaked door and saw Bulma's head peek through. She looked down at the boy who was still mad and turned his back to her. She let out a sigh and went on to apologize.

"Look Goku… I'm sorry I grabbed your tail. I shouldn't have done something like that and I really am sorry, but when I ask you to do certain things, I need you to please just do it and not question it. I promise I'll be nicer from now on, OK?" Goku looked up at her, arms still crossed. He then lowered them and kicked the dirt around. "Fine", he whined. Bulma smiled.

"Good", she then gave him a peck on the forehead and rubbed his hair, "Now go get some sleep. We have to get good rest for our adventure tomorrow."

"Ok", said Goku as he walked off to his hut. Bulma shook her head playfully and went back inside. She decided she had bathed enough and put her pink pj's on. She brushed her hair and teeth and dried her hair. She had put her hair in a half pigtail and went to bed. "I don't know what planet that kid is from, but it sure ain't earth. Ha, maybe he really did fall from the sky or outer space.", she said jokingly. What she didn't know is that right when she said that, Planet Vegeta had shook due to every saiyan sneezing at the same time. This event would be known through Saiyan history as The Great Wind.

Goku himself had gotten ready for bed. Even though he didn't know what teeth brushing was, he did have a mint plant that he would chew the leaves of to clean his breathe and mouth. He got out of his gi as he liked to sleep in the nude. He laid in his bed because he was having trouble sleeping. He had so many things on his mind. What kind of foes would he face, would he make some new friends along the way, what is life in the city like, what kind of foods are out there, are all girls like Bulma, will he be able to become the strongest, and many more. Goku's expression was so bright, it could have lit the room. His eyes had this twinkle to them as he anticipated the future. He knew he needed his sleep, so he closed his eye lids and tried to get some rest. In the morning he would start his new life and make his grandpa proud. Little did he know, he was going to have to get up in a little bit because a strange vehicle was flying overhead.

* * *

 **A/N: Well there's the 5** **th** **chapter completed.** **I was thinking of having potential beta-readers for these so I can pump these chapters out quicker. I'm not sure how getting beta-readers works, but if you're interested, feel free to PM me and I'll get it worked out. Thanks again and see you in the next chapter. Also feel free to let me know on how I can improve my writing.**

 **I would like to address the criticism of one review. I don't remember the user's name, but they told me that the first chapter was unnecessary because it's the same as the Bardock special. My rebuttal is….Fuck you. Nah I'm just kidding. I agree that I didn't need to write chapter one, but that was more of a practice chapter for me to see how well I could describe scenes. Let me know of you think I did ok with that or how I could improve it. I'm going to leave chapter 1 up, but I recommend you go and watch the special, like the reviewer said, if you want to know how this fic starts. The only real difference I made was at the very end, where Bardock goes to visit Gone instead of going to Planet Meat.**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Hey everyone, sorry for taking so long to get this out. I'm not gonna lie, a lot of it was procrastination and laziness. I have so much on my plate, sometimes I'd rather play videogames or watch stupid videos to spend my free time rather than writing for this. I'm not gonna quit, because I have waaayyyy to many ideas I want to get on paper, just don't expect anything too frequent. Also, apologies for the shorter chapter, was originally gonna be a lot longer, but I think I've kept you waiting long enough. Anyway, feel free to tell me what you thought of this chapter. I took the advice of some reviews I got about not putting my stupid little comments in the middle of the story flow. Looking back, I can see how fucking annoying that must be, so sorry about that. I also had someone tell me that the writing was way to compact, so let me know if the paragraphing this time is ok or if it should be spaced out more. Anyway, hope you enjoy!**

Chapter 6

The Adventure Begins

* * *

The sky was dark, the air was crisp, and the only sound that could be heard were a few crickets and the distant trickling of water from the nearby creek. Bulma was in her pink pajamas and slept snuggly between her blanket. Her capsule house was equipped with an A/C, so she didn't have to worry about the elements interfering with her rest. Goku on the other hand was sprawled over his bed, the sheets tossed around, and a pillow on the floor. He was lightly snoring and mumbled in his sleep sporadically. He tossed and turned with a grin on his face. He was dreaming about what his adventure would be like in the morning. Everything was peaceful, when suddenly, Goku shot up from his bed, still partially asleep. His unknown to him saiyan hearing had picked up a strange buzzing noise. He tried to go back to sleep, but once his head hit the mattress, he jutted his eyes wide open. The sound was much closer now and it sounded to be heading in his direction. Goku wasn't sure what could be causing the noise, but it was obviously something alive if it was coming towards him. He had no idea if this creature was a friend or foe and it was always safest to assume foe. The tiny warrior quickly dressed himself in his gi and grabbed his power pole, dashing outside to confront the danger. He looked up to see what he believed to be a giant metal bird flying over his house. He remembered Bulma mention some kind of thing that the city people made called a plane that allowed people to fly, and this fit its description. He was still unsure, so he decided to follow it and see of it would land near them.

Up above in the plane believed to be a creature, were the pilot and passenger. The pilot was a woman in her twenties, with long, pure black hair. She wore red lipstick and blue eyeshadow. She dressed herself in a gray jumpsuit, as a part of her job as an assassin. Next to her was the passenger, a humanoid Shiba Inu dog, dressed in a purple samurai hood, his blade sheathed across his back.

"Ugh, Mai, are we there yet?", groaned the canid.

"I told you Shu, not until the blip on the screen stops on top of us.", replied the assassin.

"Man, why do we have to go and get these stupid Dragon Balls? We don't even know if they work.", begrudged Shu.

"I know, but you heard what the boss said", replied Mai as both proceeded to flashback to their boss's orders.

They reminisced back to a few, where they stood in a large palace hall. At the end was a large throne, but the person sitting in it was much smaller than it. Seated was a tiny, blue goblin downed in a Victorian style outfit, with a large red kanji symbol on the front. On his head he wore a child's hat with a red star in front. The goblin was stuffing his face on a turkey thigh as he prepared to speak.

 _*Gulp* "Welcome back you two, I hope you have what I wanted", asked the blue goblin. Shu walked up with a little black box and handed it to the little goblin._

" _Here you are Emperor Pilaf, just like you asked for.", replied Shu. Pilaf grabbed the box and opened it. Inside was a little orange ball with a red star inside of it. The emperor grew a wide grin and cackled with glee._

" _Ahahaha! It's mine, the Dragon Ball is mine!", exclaimed Pilaf. The two mercenaries looked at the little goblin with shaky looks and cracked awkward smiles. After Pilaf had calmed down, he put the ball back in the box and looked down to his two minions. "Good job you two, this here is the first step to immortality! Now go get me another!", he yelled as he quickly changed tone. Shu groaned and stepped forward to speak. "Well Emperor, we were hoping we could have something to eat first. Getting that ball was hard, and the tracker was even more difficult.", Shu shakily requested. Mai then stepped forward with a little more confidence and began to speak._

" _Sir, we did get you both those things. We could use the food to replenish our strength for getting the next ball.", she spoke nervously. Pilaf looked at them both and sighed. "How long did it take to plan our heist of Capsule Corp.?", he questioned. Both looked away as they knew what was coming, but Shu answered anyway._

" _A..about 2 months", he stuttered as he glanced towards the ceiling. Pilaf continued to eat the turkey leg and spoke with a full mouth._

" _Very good Shu. And Mai, when we received intel that they were developing technology to locate the Dragon Balls of Legend, how much more planning went into that?"_

" _Another month", she said looking down at the floor._

" _That's right. So, after about three months of planning about how we were going to break into Capsule Corp. and steal their tech, can either of you tell me how you two *munch munch* who are world class mercenaries by the way" Pilaf then grabbed a remote and pushed a red button on it, activating robotic arms that grabbed the two and flung them close to Pilaf's face "How you two dared to leave evidence at the scene of the crime!". Pilaf then took a photo out of his pocket that displayed a picture of the two sneaking out with a dragon radar. Pilaf had managed to gain access to the surveillance footage from a mole he sent into the corporation. The mole was able to stall a release of the footage, but only stall as it was already in the system. The two then jittered trying to explain themselves._

" _W.. didn't know they had just installed new security cameras!", stammered Shu, who was held upside down by the arms._

" _We still got the radar, didn't we?!", said Mai with nervous sweat. Pilaf then grew a throbbing bulge on his head._

" _WHAT GOOD IS THAT IF THEY KNOW YOU DID IT!", screamed the emperor. "You're lucky I don't fire you and turn you in myself to get the cops off my back. I would, but I don't have time to hire new mercenaries." Pilaf then got close to their faces which they widened in fear. "Don't think getting one of the Dragon Balls makes up for the rookie mistake you supposed veterans made." Pilaf then backed away and sat back down in his throne. "Here's the deal you two, the radar seems to be showing three balls in the same place. Go and get them and you can have the scraps of whatever I don't eat.", he smirked as he bit into the leg once more. "But if you fail, not only will I terminate our contract, ruining your precious reputations, …" Pilaf the took the remote from earlier out and pressed a different button this time. The roof of the palace opened, revealing the storm happening outside. The robotic arms then dragged the two into the opening and stayed there for a few moments. The mercenaries were then struck by lightning, and the arms brought their charred bodies back down, the roof closing behind them, to the emperor's level. "Have I made myself clear?", he coyly asked._

 _The two coughed up black smoke and replied in unison, "Crystal"._

They both shuddered.

"Man, we shouldn't have taken this job. There's too much on the line now and we don't even know if these stupid orbs work.", grumbled Shu.

"I know Shu, but we gotta finish this. If a failed client goes on our record, there goes our notoriety and any other jobs in the future.", replied Mai.

"Yeah, I know", answered Shu. "I still can't believe that camera got a picture of us!", griped the dog.

"Me neither, but you can't prepare for absolutely everything. They must have known we had been surveying them for a while. There's no way they just happened to install new security a day before we went in.", reasoned the curvaceous woman. Mai was now lowering the plane as they were getting close to their destination. "We're gonna feel a little turbulence, so hang onto something", warned Mai. Shu nodded and then grabbed onto the plane rail, bracing for impact. Mai steadied the plane to land in a field that was about 100 yards away from Goku's shack.

* * *

Once the plane had descended and completely landed, the two mercenaries got out and cloaked themselves in the dark. Mai took out the square dragon radar from her jacket pocket (to which they were unaware was an inferior prototype version that Bulma had made before crafting the perfected version she uses now) and followed the blip on the screen. As they approached the dragon ball's location, Shu whispered something to Mai.

"Hey Mai, you think that the owner of the radar has those three balls? What if it's a Capsule Corp. employee who has seen our face?", he hushed.

"They probably do, that would explain why three of them are in the same vicinity, and we'll do what we always do, force them to hand the item over and if they don't comply, we kill them; especially if they've seen us.", she whispered rather blandly as they entered the jungle. As they kept sneaking, Shu looked down and drooped his ears.

"Yeah, I figured as much, but I hate when we have to kill people. It'd be so much easier on my conscience.", he replied sadly.

"Look it's not like I jump for joy when it comes down to it, but we've been in this business long enough to know what comes with the job. Besides, this won't be your first kill, you gotta stop letting those feelings of yours getting in the way, or else you'll be the one killed instead.", she said bluntly.

Mai and Shu had been working partners for several years, and while they both were sensitive to the more violent parts of their jobs in the beginning, Mai had gotten over them as time passed. Shu on the other hand still gets hesitant when it comes to having to ice a target. It could be part of his dog nature to not want to hurt humans. Even then, he was an excellent assassin and when it came down to it, did his job with flying colors.

The two reached the end and pushed through a few leaves. They were now at the open patch of land that housed Goku's hut and Bulma's capsule house. Mai looked down at the radar to see which house the balls in and it had pointed to the capsule home. Mai pointed her index finger at the house and spoke, "there, that's where the radar says the balls are. Now let's get them and get out of here." Shu nodded and the two took a step forward out of the jungle brush. Just as they planted their feet forward, they stopped immediately as a large red rod slammed into the ground and blocked their path.

The two were tempted to scream but kept their voices quiet as to not wake up whoever was inside the house. They both looked to see where the pole came from and were surprised to see a small boy with a monkey tail shining in the moonlight. He was glaring at them and looked like he was ready to attack. The mercenaries blinked, shook their heads, and Shu then spoke up.

"What the heck kid, are you trying to kill us?!", he whisper-screamed. The warrior boy then retracted his power pole and put it into a fight ready position.

"I don't know, depends on if you're planning on doing the same to Bulma", angrily replied Goku.

"Who?", asked Mai not knowing who he was talking about, "wait, that name…that's the name of one of the Capsule Corp founder couple's daughters!" she whisper-shouted to Shu. Shu looked back at her and spoke in a whisper voice as well. They did a quick huddle faced away from Goku, who looked at the scene, curious to what they were planning.

"Then what's this kid doing with her? I doubt they'd send a little brat to be her body guard."

"This is great Shu. If this is the damsel's bodyguard, then all we gotta do is get rid of him and the girl is completely defenseless. The balls are as good as ours" exclaimed Mai. Shu on the other hand didn't like this plan and disgruntled his concerns.

"Ohhh, Mai, I don't wanna kill a kid, I know we're mercenaries, but don't we have to draw a line somewhere?" Mai looked at him with a glare, but Shu then made puppydog eyes and began to whimper lightly. As much as she hated to admit it, it was hard to argue with him when he mad that face. She sighed and decide she'd try the peaceful route first for his sake. The assassin turned towards the tiny warrior posed to strike. Then she spoke up.

"Hey kid, what are you doing out here and how did you know we were coming? Did you see our faces on the security footage from Caspule Corp.?"

Goku stayed in his offensive stance and cocked his eyebrow up. "I don't know what you're talking about, but to answer your questions, this is my home and you guys were so loud with your plane that it was hard not to know you were coming. Now I should be asking you the same thing.", he said as he tightened his gaze. Mai the responded.

"Wait, if you're not with Capsule Corp. then why are you guarding the girl? And it's none of your business why we are here, move aside kid.", she said while taking a step forward, but Goku was poised to strike and shouted "pole extend" right up to her face as a threat. The monkey boy then spoke up.

"I'm her friend, so if you're here to hurt or kill her you'll have to go through me!" he shouted. Mai had vein throb in her forehead and shouted.

"All right then, not a problem by me. Sorry Shu, I tried it your way, now we do it the proper way!" Shu was not liking this at all and was about to speak up to try again, but Mai suddenly pulled out an Uzi gun and rapid fired towards the boy. Much to both their shock though, Goku had spun his power pole and deflected all the bullets. Both mercenaries stood dumbfounded that this little kid just deflected hundreds of bullets with his stick.

"My turn!", yelled Goku as he swung his pole down towards Mai. To his surprise, it stopped after contacting a katana on the other end, held by the little Shiba. Goku was surprised but welcomed the counter with a grin, trading blow after blow with the dogman's sword. Goku hadn't sparred with anyone in a long time, casing his dormant instincts to resurface. The two swung back and forth, trading blow after blow. Each had gotten close to landing hits on each other, but both had managed to didge each other's attacks. Granted Goku could easily beat this humanoid, but he was having fun, so he came down to his level.

"You're not too bad with that sword, mister", complemented Goku to Shu. Shu the stepped back to gain his bearings. "I could say the same to you and that pole kid", he replied. The Shiba tried to rush the monkey boy and do a large overhead swipe, but he underestimated his opponent by leaving himself so vulnerable.

Goku, seeing that this was around the best the dog could do and the women was reloading her gun, grew bored and did a low sweep with the pole to trip the pair. They both fell to the ground with a thud and were sprawled out. Looking up, they saw the boy towered over them, looking down with menace. "I'm sorry that I have to do this, but you're a threat, you fought decently if it makes you feel any better." Goku then pointed his pole towards them. He raised it up and was about to strike down. Many thoughts were running through the heads of the mercenaries.

( _Dammit, are we really gonna die by a kid?! After all my time spent gaining experience to prevent situations like this from happening, a brat of all people if gonna be the end of me!_ ), thought Mai as she sweated waiting for the inevitable. Shu's thoughts weren't any better.

( _To think this is how I'm gonna go out, from a little kid. Man I should've lived a better life than crime. To think I can't even leave that legacy behind, cause of that damn surveillance footage!_ ), he thought, to which he then had an epiphany. As Goku was about to thrust the pole down onto their heads, Shu shouted. "WAIT!" Goku the abruptly stopped and looked down at the dogman.

"What is it, final words?", he said nonchalantly. Shu was still shuttering from the fact that this little boy was strong enough to have them on the ground, but he worked up the courage to speak.

"We..we aren't going to kill her anymore", stammered the Shiba.

Goku replied in a dead tone. "I don't believe you". Mai then chimed in.

"Shush Shu! I appreciate the efforts, but we aren't gonna be able to lie our way out of this."

The dogman shouted his reply to the world, not really sure which of who was supposed to receive it. "I'm not lying though, we can't kill her. Her parents will have seen our faces. If report comes out that she's dead or missing, they'll know to blame us for it.", Shun then turned to face Mai. "I know we were already caught stealing from them, but we'll only get jail time for that. If they charge us for murder though…", both mercenaries gulped at the thought of their punishments.

Shu then looked back up to Goku. "So ya see kid, we…we ain't gonna hurt her no more, so..do you think you could let us go?", asked Shu. Goku was silent because he was processing many things in his head then. He looked up as he contemplated these things.

" _They're probably lying, but the dog seems pretty sincere."_ He thought to himself. _"So I guess I shouldn't kill them,…but why should I care though, they tried to hurt my friend."_ Goku then looked at down the pair. They were trembling slightly, anticipating the strike, but terrified of when it would land. They didn't dare face their executioner and kept down with their eyes scrunched tight.

" _Honestly, if they were willing to kill now, they'll do it later and probably have done it before. I have to end them"_ He tightened his grip on his pole, long side facing down. He was ready to thrust down right onto their heads and split their skulls open, it would be so easy, like cutting a peach, yet he was still hesitating. _"Why haven't I just done it yet?!"_ , he mentally screamed. _"I'm not doing anything wrong, they're the killers, not me!"_ Goku was having an inner turmoil and it was visible as he sweated profusely, breathed heavily, and his pupils dilated. He continued clenching the pole, but his hands wouldn't swing down. He gritted his teeth and grunted, the two took this as a sign to prepare for the inevitable and lay there shivering, teeth clenched as well.

" _What the heck is holding me back! It's not like Grandpa would mind! I can finally kill, so why won't I just do it?!"_ It was then when Goku's face became horrified and he dropped his pole onto the ground. The mercenaries heard the clink of the pole hit the earth and immediately looked to where it lied. They gazed up to see a somber boy starring at the ground, with his hands at his side and his tail drooping down.

Goku was disgusted with himself that he was looking for excuses to kill people. If his grandpa were still alive, he would be abhorred by his behavior. He thought he was over his violent tendencies, but it seems he was wrong. He had a very serious problem that needed fixing. His first act towards fixing himself was going to be to let these two leave. They may be killers, but their lives had value too. They did say they weren't going to kill Bulma anymore, and even if they were lying, he didn't want to be like them; he could be better, and this was the first step to that goal.

"Fine", he sighed with a slight sympathetic tone. "I guess you're technically not a threat anymore, so I'll let you go this time." He said as he went to pick up his pole. The mercenaries looked at each other in complete bewilderment, but they knew better than to loiter around and dashed back towards the plane. Goku just blinked in confusion, but he shrugged it off.

"Wonder if this is the last I'll see of them?" he asked himself. The plane then took lift off and made its way back to wherever it came from, but not before hovering over where Goku was for a few seconds so the female pilot could yell "This isn't last you'll see of us!", and then jetting off into the early morning sky. "Well I guess that answers that", said Goku scratching his head. He let out a big yawn as it was still earlier than he usually gets up. Drudging himself back to his tiny cottage, he plopped onto the bed for a few more hours of sleep.

The mercenary pair was jetting away back to Pilaf's castle, but the occupants were not happy to return.

"Ugh, what are we gonna do know Mai? Should we even bother going back to Pilaf's? He'll probably just turn us into the police, and even if he doesn't our reputations are ruined.", Shu somberly said.

Mai was focused on flying the plane, thinking of a plan. She the smiled as she gazed out into the night sky. "No Shu, were going right back to Pilaf's and were gonna tell him what happened".

Shu looked at her in disbelief. After all the time they had worked together, Mai had taken pride in the reputation more that he ever did. To think she would willingly and seemingly with glee, tell her boss that a little kid beat her up and that she failed her mission; she must have hit her head a lot harder than he thought when she fell.

"Uh, Mai, are you feeling alright?" asked a concerned Shu.

Mai just gave a sinister, smug chuckle. "I sure am, because know we have all seven dragon balls", she said as her mouth widened into a smile.

"Uh, I'm not sure I follow, Mai.", asked the perplexed Shiba.

Mai turned to face Shu while keeping her hands on the controls. "Look its simple. Obviously, the little princess the kid of protecting has 'daddies' radar, maybe a better one than we do, and she's going around looking for the other balls. All we have to do is let those stupid kids gather the rest, and then we swoop in and take them.", she answered with a toothy smile.

Shu was glad that they had a such a great fallback now but was still a little concerned about Mai as she seemed a bit too happy about it.

"It's perfect Shu! We don't have to do any of the hard work, Pilaf wont raost our skins when we get back, our reputation will be saved, and the look on the brat's face when we steal those balls from him. That kid is gonna see what happens when you humiliate me!", she said as she grinned wickedly. Shu was slightly disturbed and gave a small curt look to her as she cackled.

"Well, uh, if your happy then I'm happy, Mai", he replied with a sweat drop.

"OH, I WILL BE WHEN THAT KID GETS PUNKED! HAHAHAHAHAHA!", she cackled as the plane darted back to the castle.

* * *

A few hours had passed, and the sun had just peaked over the horizon as first dawn's light shone into Goku's hut. He slowly blinked his eyes open, and then flashed them wide. It was morning which meant that it was the first day of his adventure with Bulma. After getting dressed and packing up everything he would need with him, (which was only his power pole and a change of clothes), he dashed to Bulma's capsule house and kicked the door open, he was about to yell to her but quickly covered his mouth when he saw she was still asleep. He tiptoed to her resting form at the edge of the bed. Her breaths were light and her hair a mess. Goku thought of waking he up, but thought that she probably wouldn't appreciate that, so eft her alone. He then felt the first wake drowsiness and decided he'd try and take a quick cat nap. He pulled himself onto the bed, careful not to move arudn too much and wake Bulma up and proceeded to place his head at her crotch area. He knows that Bulma said they can't sleep together, but he thought lying there for a couple minutes couldn't hurt. It had been a long time since he had felt the soft touch of a pair to rest his head on (Last time I'm going to interrupt the story like this but God, I honestly felt super uncomfortable writing that, but its accurate to what a naïve boy like him would be feeling. I usually don't say stuff like this often because I think its retarded, but I'm sorry if reading that made you uncomfortable as well.), so he promptly laid his head down to rest. Suddenly, he realized that his head had plopped onto the mattress instead of the balls he was expecting. Goku at up and looked to where Bulma's testicles were supposed to be, but he saw nothing there.

"Woah, does she even have a pair?", he thought to himself. He decided to pull off her underwear to see, seeing nothing wrong with it. The boy was partly joking when he wondered if she was missing her testes, but to his shock, he looked down and saw bare skin. He was in utter disbelief and patted her crotch down to make sure that there really was nothing there. The touch was enough to wake Bulma up. The blunette slowly opened her eyes, to see a frightened Goku at the edge of her bed. She would normally be mad but he looked so frightened, so she assumed he was having a bad dream and wanted the company. She let him off the hook this time and proceeded to prompt him.

"Yawn, Morning Goku, are you ok? Did you have a bad dream?", she asked in a gentle tone. The monkey boy struggled to speak and stammered out grumbles. Bulma sat up to try, worrying that something was wrong with him. She rubbed his hair to try and comfort him as she pried him for more. "My gosh, Goku, you're really shaken up. What's wrong", she asked with concern. Goku was finally able to get out a few words.

"Th..thth…they're gone", he stuttered. Bulma just looked at him confused to what he could mean.

"What's gone, did you lose something?", questioned Bulma. Goku managed to mumble out one other word that would be able to piece together the puzzle.

"B..balls", he quivered out. At first Bulma tilted her head to the side wondering what balls he was talking about. Then it hit her, and her face grew pale.

"THE DRAGON BALLS!", she screamed. She jumped out of bed, her hair still a mess and rushed over to the sack she was keeping the balls in. Goku just followed her with his head, still terrified. Bulma emptied the bag, and out fell the dragon balls. She was surprised, thinking the orbs went missing somehow. "One, two, three", she softly counted to make sure all of them were present. When she saw that they were all present she let out a sigh of relief. The blunette turned to the tiny warrior to give him a light scolding. "Goku, don't scare me like that, it's not funny. What made you think it would be a good idea to prank me?!", she said in a slightly raised voice. Goku was still trying process what happened and was gazing out with only his thoughts, until Bulma's address to him snapped him back. He looked at her with a sweaty forehead and looked like he was going insane.

"I..I…meant…not..not", he quivered. As he was about to finish his sentence, he realized what would happen if he told her the truth of what happened, and he did not want to incur the wrath of whatever beast Bulma would turn into from finding out. With a lightly saner face, he apologized, "S..sorry, I won't do it again". Bulma could tell there was more to what he was leading on with, but she didn't have time for it, so she just shrugged it off and let Goku be this time.

"Good, now let's get going.", replied the teen. Goku shook his heads to try and focus on ahead, he wasn't going to let that hiccup ruin his first day of adventure. He was contemplating if he should tell her about the people sent to kill her last night, but decided not too, since they weren't a threat when he was around, also because he didn't want to deal with her panicked yelling this early in the morning. Maybe he would tell her later, but for now she didn't need to know.

After Bulma straightened her hair, got dressed, and shrunk her house back into its capsule, she took out another one and opened a motor bike out of it.

"Alright, hop on", she said as she patted the seat behind him. Goku took a minute to look at the strange vehicle. It wasn't like the car Bulma was driving or the ones Grandpa had told him about. It looked a lot like those bicycles, but with power of a car.

The blunette was busy checking her dragon radar for the next location of a dragon ball when she looked over to see the monkey boy surveying the vehicle. Although Bulma understood he was curious, they didn't have all day, so she tried to hurry up the process. "It's called a motor bike, I can tell you more about it if you hurry up and get on it.", she said slightly frustrated. Goku gave a nod and climbed up to the seat she patted before.

"Like this?", he asked. The teen prodigy put the radar back into her jacket pocket and looked back to see Goku seated properly, but with his arms spread into a t-pose. She chuckled lightly and corrected him. "Well, your butt is in the right place, but you aren't gonna want to put your arms out like that when we go. Here, wrap them around my waist", she instructued. Goku nodded and did as told.

"So where are we going?", he asked excitedly. Bulma took out a pair of wind goggle and strapped them to her face to protect her eyes. She slipped on a pair of white leather gloves, straightened her ponytail, and grinned. She placed her hands on the throttle and revved the engine. Goku became a little stiff as he had never heard such a loud noise before. The young genius then gave a small grin.

"I don't know", she replied, "but I'm excited to find out!". Going full throttle, the bike swerved for a second until it skidded off towards the dirt road a few feet in front of them, making a sharp turn in the direction the ball was in. Goku was grasped tightly around Bulma's waist. Even though he could move close to this speed, he had never felt the sensation of being on a vehicle of any kind. His eyes and teeth jittered as he tried to calm down. Bulma felt the squeezing around her waist and understood Goku was feeling nervous, which made sense since this was his first motorcycle ride. Perhaps she should have expected that and started off a bit slower, but after seeing him lift a car, she didn't think something like this would bother him. The blunette slowed her pace to a reasonable speed and turned back to Goku.

"Look to your side, the scenery is amazing", she suggested in hopes of helping Goku get used to and enjoy the motor bike. Goku had his eyes closed at this point and tucked himself close to Bulma's body. He had heard her and nodded. Slowly the lids lifted to see the greenery of the Mount Paozu area. The verdant forests, emerald planes, and snow topped mountains all glistening in the morning sunshine. Goku had lived here his whole life, and always loved how pretty it was, but never had he seen it like this as it whizzed by where he could take so much in, in so little time. The wind blowing through his hair and onto his face, the lines in the earth formed from the speed of the bike; it was all so new and refreshing. It reminded him of when he first met his grandpa and how new everything was compared to whatever place in the sky he was from. Even though he didn't remember anything about his birthplace, he remembers how awestruck he was by the scenery when he first arrived.

Keeping one arm around Bulma's waist, he put the other arm out to the wind and let it push against his hand. He made it dance as the current swayed his arms. He was glad he met Bulma and couldn't wait to see what else the world had in store for him.

Bulma gave a warm smile at seeing Goku's childish innocence explore the simple wonders of the world. "All right Goku, hang on, were gonna pick it up a notch!". Goku wrapped both arms around her and gave a quick thumb up that he was ready to go. She gave on back and twisted the throttle, speeding off into the distance. A shout of joy and pile of dust followed behind them to whatever adventure was ahead.

* * *

 **Hey guys thanks for reading. Again, sorry if it's a little short, but I feel bad not giving you any content. Maybe I should try doing these shorter chapters, so I can get content out to you in a somewhat timely manner. Let me know if you'd like that or if you'd rather me spend some more time on the chapters (just remember that I'm a huge procrastinator). Criticism of all kinds is always welcome so feel free to leave a review. Thank you all for your support and have a good one :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey everyone, I'm back from the grave. In all seriousness, sorry about taking so long to release a chapter. I was really busy with classes, but when summer rolled around, I was working like 30hr work weeks and just wanted to play video games and watch tv when I got home. My motivation for this had gone down too. I think I've gotten out of the slump and am ready to start writing again. Some things to address before we go forward. After thinking about it for a while, I will not be doing the entirety of the original Dragon Ball. Its just too long and my ideas are more to do with the stories from Z. I'm not gonna abandon OG DB, but I'm skipping over almost all of it. I'll finish the first arc and then skip around between the stuff happening on Planet Vegeta and Earth, and finish DB off with the King Piccolo saga having my full attention. I've only watched the first 10 or so episodes of OG DB, so I need to finish the series before we get to that. Also be aware that I haven't touched this fic for months so expect inconsistencies between chapters (I like to think of it as having that Toriyama touch to it). I'm also going to retcon a few things like that stupid "tribe" system where I was gonna have it be like some pokemon thing where each saiyan tribe had different battle stats, but in the end it became to much of a hassle and doesn't really fit with the DB universe anyway (the manga/tv show I mean, cause it makes sense for the games). I'll still have the tribes be a part of their culture, but it's not going to affect fight outcomes. This chapter is gonna be pretty short, but I'm hoping to make longer ones when we I get to the parts I want to wright about. Thank you all so much for bearing with my lazy ass. Now onto the story.**

* * *

Chapter 7:

All Rivers Lead Back to the Ocean

Bulma and Goku had been riding on the motorbike for a good few hours. The sun had passed the midday point and was far down enough that the sky had a light orange tint to it. Bulma was getting tired and Goku was getting hungry. The duo would probably have covered more ground if the younger of the two didn't constantly need to stop to grab a snack or relieve himself. Bulma had tolerated the first few times, but after the 12th she decide she needed to put her foot down as the elder. Goku didn't mind this at first, but after an hour his urges began to bug him making him act more like his age. He would wine and grunt and throw small tantrums, which irritated the blunette to no end. She ignored him which made the child realize his fussing wouldn't make her budge and kept his mouth shut the rest of the way; this was 4 hours ago.

Goku had finally decided to speak up, grabbing the female's attention by lightly tugging on her shirt. His tone was tired and slight groggy. "Hey Bulma, can we please stop for a little bit? I'm getting really hungry". His stomach then rumbled and Goku winced in slight pain. Bulma was not annoyed with Goku anymore, but she was exhausted and thus slightly irritable.

Bulma spoke in a manner like a mother who is irritated yet trying her best to still be polite to her child. "You had a squirrel earlier, you can last another couple hours". She was still disgusted by the fact that Goku just ate random animals he found, but she slowly got used to that just being apart of how he was raised. Judging by the position of the sun, she estimated it was around 4pm. The next town would be about 2-2 ½ hour drive and she did not want to make any more stops. If she stopped now to let Goku go pee or hunt something, it would take away from their travel time and she did not want to be on the road as it was getting dark. Sure, she had the capsule house, but she needed to get to the town to restock on supplies and more importantly gas. A gorgeous genius like herself was not about to become subjected to another night out in the wilderness just because this country bumpkin couldn't go two seconds without taking a piss or shoving food down his throat.

Goku was annoyed by this but kept it to himself knowing that making a fuzz over it wouldn't get him anywhere. He sighed and turned his head to take in the scenery. The landscape was different to what they saw when they left this morning. They had passed between forests and river on their way, but now they were back in a plain biome. The difference here was the amount of stones that jutted out of the ground. Back at Mt. Paozu, the fields were open with plenty of space to run around in. At this location, brown boulders peeked out of the earth and peppered the landscape. It was by no means ugly to look at, but it made it hard to see past the horizon. Goku was curious as to why this plain had all the rocks, but the ones by Mt. Paozu didn't. Even though he'd only known Bulma for a few days, it was obvious that she was very smart and knew a lot more about the world than him. The monkey boy lightly tapped the blunette on the shoulder to grab her attention. Hopefully this topic would help him ignore the fact that he was hungry.

"Hm?" she mumbled as she peered back at the tiny warrior to tell him that he had her attention. "Bulma, I've got a question.", he asked nonchalantly. "Ok, shoot.", she responded.

"Why is it that the fields here have all these rocks poking out of the ground? The ones by my place don't look like this.", he asked with inquiry in his eye. Bulma put a small smile on her face. She enjoyed answering Goku's questions as he had a genuine desire to learn more about the world. He was so innocent with his curiosities and it felt nice to be able to share her knowledge with someone who wasn't looking to get something out if it in return, as she had experienced so many times in the city. It was also a sight boost to her ego knowing that she held all the knowledge of the world and that Goku needed her genius mind to relay it to him, but she would keep that little tidbit to herself.

She held her head slightly high and began to explain. "Well Goku, I know you have a river near your house. Did your grandpa ever tell you how that came to be"? She asked this to see of Goku had been taught the principle of change over time by his grandfather. Hopefully he knew about this concept, so explaining tectonic shifts would be easier for him to grasp.

Goku put his finger to his chin and thought about all the lessons his grandpa taught him as a boy. He in fact did recall asking Grandpa Gohan about where the river that flowed down the mountain came to be. He looked up at Bulma and relayed his memories. "I remember one time when we were following the river down the mountain to get back home and I asked him about hit. I think he told me that after a long time, the rain that fell on the mountain dug into the dirt a little bit every time it rained until it became the river."

"Good, that makes explaining this much easier", said the blunette with slight relief. "So, it's actually the same principle, but in this case the Earth itself moves little by little, smushing continents together and the making the crust poke up. This can result in the landscape forming great mountains or the rocks jutting out around us", she responded.

Goku gave a grin to show the he understood what Bulma was trying to teach him. "Oh, I see, that makes a lot of sense actually". He was awestruck with how this girl was such a genius and could answer any question he threw at her. "Man Bulma, you sure know a lot about everything, how did you get so smart?", he asked starry eyed.

If Bulma didn't have a swollen head before, she certainly had one now. She slyly put her hand to her mouth and chuckled in fake embarrassment. "Oh, Goku you little charmer you. You sure know how to make a lady feel special, you've got me all flustered."

Goku rolled his eyes as he could tell that she was being sarcastic about his compliment. One thing he quickly realized about his female companion is that she liked to have her ego stroked. Hopefully he could use this in the future when she gets mad at him as she usually does. The boy refocused on the road and saw a large object begin to move perpendicular to their path. Bulma was still acting flustered and was not giving her full attention to the road. The Monkeyboy, tugged on the blunettes shirt to ask her another question.

"Hey Bulma?", he quietly asked. The teenager soon regained her composure and looked back at the fighter, "Yes Goku what is it?". "I know you said the rocks move slowly, but like how slowly", he asked as he continued to stare at the object moving in front of their projected path. "Oh, they take thousands to hundreds of thousands of years to move anywhere significant, you would never see it in your lifetime", she responded coolly. "Oh OK, I was just wondering if that rock in front of us was moving because of the smushing", Goku stated nonchalantly.

Bulma had to process what Goku had just said before she responded and decided to look at the road in front of here, which she had been ignoring up to this point. "Rock, what rock?", she questioned. When her eyes finally caught gaze with the road, it was almost too late. She saw a large brown hunk of mass sitting in front of her motorcycle. She panicked and let out a scream as she pulled on the brake lever. She didn't brake early enough though and their current trajectory had them rushing straight into the object in front of them which she could have thought she heard scream back at her. As this was happening Goku broke out of his panic and equipped his power pole. He commanded it to extended, "Power-Pole, extend!" and quickly struck it at an angle into the dirt in front of them in hopes of applying some extra force to slow them down.

Luckily for the duo, Goku's quick reaction time stopped them from crashing into whatever the object was. The two panted and let out sighs of relief. After regaining their composure, they were able to get a better look at what was blocking their way. At first glance it certainly appeared to be a rock, but closer inspection revealed what looked to be scales, and a shell, and flippers, and a head; "Hey is that a turtle?!", Goku quickly blurted out. Bulma examined the object and recognized that it was indeed a turtle. Said turtle had its flippers covering its head, hoping to lessen the impact it was expecting to take, after a few moments passed the reptile realized it hadn't been hit by the vehicle and let out its own sigh of relief.

"This is what I get for leaving the water", said the turtle with a sulky tone in a nasally voice. "Oh wow, it can talk", exclaimed Bulma, "I've only ever met a few nonhumanoid talking animals"! The turtle now seemed to be calm and lowered its flippers from its face. "Well it's a hard skill to learn so most animals don't bother trying to, but I've been around for a while, so I picked it up over time", he responded with slight trembling, obviously still shocked about almost being ran over.

Bulma realized that she had almost hit this creature and immediately went to bow in apology. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I almost hit you with my motorbike!", she said while repeatedly bowing. The turtle was a forgiving soul and responded warmly, "Oh don't worry yourself over it, I should have been paying attention to the road". Goku decided to chime in with one of his lack of awareness comments, "That's OK, cause Bulma wasn't paying attention to the road either. She was too busy gushing over how smart she is, right Bulma", the boy said as he looked up at the teenager. Bulma was not keen about Goku throwing her under the bus like that and hissed at him. The Monkeyboy was able to pickup that she didn't want that brought to attention and he lightly scratched the back of his head with an awkward grin. The turtle was not one to hold grudges though and thought nothing of it.

Goku focused back onto the turtle. He had seen plenty of them back home swimming in the river and crawling around the mud beds, but this one seemed strange. What stood out most was that this turtle had no legs but "fins" instead. "Hey Mr. Turtle, why don't you have any legs like other turtles?", Goku asked innocently. Bulma lightly flicked Goku across the head, "Its not polite to ask people, errrr… beings about their appearances like that. Would you like it if people brought up your tail when they met you?". Bulma was hoping to teach Goku a lesson in manner, but he unintentionally spat it back in her face. "Why would I? You're the one who is missing their tail", he responded. The blunette was infuriated by this and was about to smack him across the head until the turtle spoke up and interrupter her. "Oh it's quite alright miss, nothing wrong with the lad being curious, and please call me Turtle, Mr. Turtle was my father". The reptile then looked to the Monkeyboy and lifted his right flipper up, "You see young man, most other turtle lives in freshwater and can still move around on the land. I however am a sea turtle and live only in the saltwater oceans".

Goku's expression lit up when he heard this. "The OCEAN?! Oh, grandpa used to tell stories that took place on the ocean. He said he would take me one day, but he never got the chance! Oh Bulma, can we go see the ocean please!?", he yelled with absolute excitement. "Actually, I would appreciate if you could do that for me. I was sent out by my master to collect some mushrooms from the mainland for a dish he was making, but I go lost and haven't been able to find my way back for weeks."

" _Oh great, now its gonna be even ruder when I tell him no"_ , Bulma thought to herself. "Oh well… I'm really sorry about the predicament you're in right now, but we're on a very important quest and we don't really have time for sightseeing. I'd be glad to point you in the direction of the ocean", to which she then pointed to her right.

Goku was not happy about this at all and furrowed his brow and began throwing a tantrum. "We're not in a rush, it's not like the Dragon Balls are gonna go anywhere! He needs our help and I wanna see the ocean?!" Goku knew this wasn't true as he had an encounter with the Pilaf gang trying to collect the other Dragon Balls and hadn't told Bulma yet, but he was confident that he could get any back that they grabbed first. Grandpa Gohan had always told him stories of pirates and Vikings battling on the high seas and the monsters that lurked under the waves. He wasn't going to pass up this chance to finally see this amazing place, and this poor turtle also needed their help getting home. Bulma was not going to budge, she needed to remain in control and not let Goku's whims distract the from their mission. "Look I'm sorry Goku, but we can't stop and help every stranger who needs our help, if we do that, we'll never get the Dragon Balls! Its also late in the day and I don't want to spend another night in the woods!", she said as she crossed her arms to show that this decision was final.

Goku being the child that he is decided the best way to handle this would be immaturely. With his unknown to him saiyan speed, he quickly snatched back the 4-star ball. "Well if you want the other balls so badly, you can go get them by yourself. I'll stay here and bring Turtle back to the ocean along with my 4-star ball. You can come back and get it when you get the rest of them.", he said as he stuck his tongue out. The blunette had to take a double take and she realized that the young warrior had snatched his Dragon Ball from her pouch. She was fuming and beet red with anger, "Stop being such a baby and give the ball back! I don't have time for these stupid games!". Goku knew that there was the potential of being hit, but besides some stinging, she had no real. power over him. "I don't have to give you anything, its my ball and I decide what to do with it.", he then pointed his index at the girl as he continued, "if you want this ball back, you either help me bring Turtle back to the ocean or you get this ball when you get the others, but good luck getting them without my help!".

Bulma's lips puckered as she wanted to scream, but she held it in to keep from embarrassing herself. Her face faded back to its peach color and she released a sigh as she lowered her head in defeat. "Fine, we'll take the turtle to the ocean.", she sulked. Goku gave a grin and handed back the dragon ball to the blunette. "You have to carry him there though, I'm not carrying all that weight on my bike!", she exclaimed hoping to punish her male friend somehow. "That's fine, he shouldn't be too heavy", he said as he lifted Turtle up like a piece of paper. The teenager wasn't even surprised at this point and just ignored her lack of justice given.

"Oh, thank you so much, I really appreciate this!", exclaimed Turtle gratefully. Bulma waved her hands, "Yeah-yeah, you're welcome. Let's just get this over with", she said with an annoyed face. The girl genius hoped on her bike and turned back at the duo, "Well…lets get going, I don't have all day". Goku then slid Turtle up his back and began to jog with him, albeit his speed of 20mph would not match what most to consider jogging. Bulma then scooted off and kept pace with the two as they went in the direction of the sea. "I can't express how grateful I am to you both, I'll make sure to repay you when we get to the ocean!", exclaimed Turtle. Bulma sarcastically replied, "I'll take one Dragon Ball to go then". Little did she know that she may get exactly what she asked for.

* * *

 **Well there is the end of this super short chapter that really functions more as a filler than actual story content. I was going to write about them meeting Roshi in this chapter, but I think I've left you waiting long enough for new chapters. My semester is ending soon, so when I get the free time, I'm probably going to watch OG DB. Hopefully this reignites me to want to sit down and type. I wanted to start some other fics, possibly a MHA x DB story and a few JoJo stories, but with my track record for not posting consistently, don't expect them anytime soon (but do expect them at some point). Thank you for being loyal to this story, knowing that you all want to read this has kept me from completely giving up on this, so thank you for the support. See you in 2025 if we haven't been bombed by then.**


End file.
